Ford unveils the electric Mustang Mach-E SUV

Just ahead of this week’s LA auto show, Ford revealed its first all-electric vehicle, a five-seat SUV inspired by the iconic Mustang.

“The challenge was, how do we take a two-door coupe that has been around for 55 years that’s been built year-after-year based on its heritage and turn that into a BEV?” Gordon Platto, chief designer for Ford’s truck lineup tells us. But Ford’s EV didn’t begin life as an homage to one of America’s most celebrated muscle cars – it could have ended up as just another humdrum answer to tighter emissions laws.

Ford Mach-E design sketches

“This was a compliance vehicle,” Platto explains. “About halfway through [the development process] we reset and said we need a product that Ford can own and be unique in the marketplace.” The design team in the Dearborn, Michigan studio had already worked for about a year on the original car. ““We had got down to one theme – interior and exterior – and that’s when the senior leadership team deemed it wasn’t the right product for Ford to introduce its first electric vehicle,” says Joel Piaskowski, global head of design for cars and crossovers.

When the decision was made to scrap the old car and work on a new one, the design team was invigorated. “Moving from a compliance play to Mustang-inspired design generated enormous enthusiasm,” says Jason Castriota, who worked as chief designer on the Mach-E before becoming Ford’s global brand director for BEVs. Piaskowski adds, “and when that clicked, it opened the doors for us to get great proportions,” The new, rear-wheel-drive platform with the battery pack positioned in the floor allowed for a longer wheelbase, bigger wheels, and a longer dash-to-axle. “We pushed the A-pillar back to give it more classic proportions and moved the front wheel forward about 70 millimetres,” Platto tells us.

Mach-E design development photos

The new design was primarily taken from one of three themes developed by the Dearborn team, but Piaskowski says the front end was also heavily inspired by a sketch submitted by Liviu Tudoran, senior exterior designer at Ford’s Merkenich studio in Germany. Key elements that tie the Mach-E to the Mustang family include a shark-nose hood which sits much higher than on the original design, tri-bar lighting graphics in the front and rear, a muscular rear haunch, and a fastback cantrail. “One of the things I’m most proud of is how we captured the fastback profile through the roof rail,” Piaskowski tells us. “It’s a visual trick because the black on the roof is really just a disguise to hide the overall roof height.”

To keep the aesthetic clean, designers replaced traditional door handles with push-buttons mounted in the pillar appliques. Front doors have a small, fixed door pull that extends out of the belt molding, which designers admit was a controversial choice, but which ultimately put the focus on the depth of sculpting in the car’s surfaces. “The new E-latch allowed us exceptionally more exterior body-side topography in the sheet metal, which helped to amplify the rear Mustang-like haunches while providing a clean, uninterrupted bodyside,” Piaskowski explains.

Eventually, five versions of the Mach-E will be available, including a high-performance GT edition, which is distinguished by 20-inch aluminum wheels and a unique front fascia that features a glowing version of the pony emblem. “The GT grille shield was another win [for the design team],” Piaskowski says. “We wanted to bring more visual familiarity to the Mach-E GT front to convey what our customers expect from a performance model that wears the pony badge. [It’s] smooth on the exterior surface, but molded and painted on the inner surface and is transparent, allowing for a distinctive three-dimensional visual effect to see the grille texture come to life through the shield.”

In its top-of-the-line configuration, the Mach-E GT makes 342 kW (459 hp) and 612lb/ft of torque and is expected to dash from 0-60 mph in the mid-three-second range. With the optional extended-range battery pack, the GT can go up to 235 miles on a single charge. The rear-wheel-drive Premium model, fitted with a 210 kW (282 hp) motor and the extended range battery pack, is expected to achieve a range of about 300 miles.

Mach-E interior sketches

For the interior, designers created a sculpted, “double-brow” dashboard evocative of classic Mustangs from the ‘60s and ‘70s and borrowed elements of the pony car’s heavily bolstered seats and sport steering wheel. But the cabin is anything but retro. “We call it human-centred design,” says interior designer Josh Greiner. During the workshopping phase, “we had people bring what they normally carry with them – whether it’s a yoga mat or an umbrella, to see how they interact with their belongings,” Greiner says.

That feedback led the team to create, among other features, a large bag or purse storage area underneath the centre armrest and a front storage tray that keeps users’ phones within easy reach. Designers also moved the door speakers up out of the door pocket, which Greiner says prioritised the BO sound system and created a floating element to make the interior feel more spacious.

Mach-E production interior design

The IP is dominated by a huge, Tesla-esque tablet, with one notable exception: Ford’s touchscreen also has a molecularly bonded floating knob, which designers say was added after customers expressed a desire for something more tactile. The large screen also keeps many functions easily accessible instead of hidden deep in menus. Designers are also proud of the Mach-E’s ample cargo space and rear seats that can accommodate people up to 6’6” tall. One of their favourite features is the “frunk” or front storage space, which is waterproof and fitted with a drain and two cup-holders, so, as Greiner explains, “You can fill it with ice, go tailgating, and hose it out later.”

Ford executives say the first examples of the Mach-E will hit the market toward the end of next year, with the GT version coming in spring 2021.

Ford Mustang Mach-E gallery