Used Ford Mustang Mach-E long-term test: report 8
The Mustang Mach-E is an electric family SUV with a high-tech interior, but what's it like to live with and is it a good car? We're finding out...
The car Ford Mustang Mach-E Standard Range RWD Run by Jim Holder, editorial director
Why it's here Ford’s first mainstream electric car needs to prove it can compete with the very best electric SUVs
Needs to Offer something more than its rivals – Ford is late to the electric party, so it's overdue a landmark EV
Miles covered 15,373 Price when new £42,530 Price when new with all options £42,530 Value on arrival £33,537 Value now £33,537 Test range 222 miles Official range 273 miles
27 September 2022 – Wasting electrons on struggling technology
Nestled neatly below my Ford Mustang Mach-E’s giant central infotainment screen, in a recess that tucks slightly under the dashboard and out of sight, is a cubby with a wireless charging mat for your mobile phone.
It’s a logical place to put it, given that it hides the phone from prying eyes a little and holds your handset securely, but the cubby is completely let down by the fact that it also seems to be in a place where the phone can easily lose signal. That’s mildly irritating when your favourite podcast falls silent for extended periods and infuriating when it sends the Apple CarPlay-based sat-nav into a spin.
What’s worse is that it doesn’t always acknowledge the sat-nav fault with a simple freeze, but rather by displaying wrong information. As you can see from the photo, you have to have your wits about you, because the problem can extend to giving you different directions on the central screen and instrument panel at the same time.
Spot it, though, and the solution is simple enough: you just have to put your phone on top of the dashboard so that it has an uninterrupted view of the sky through the windscreen. It’s a bit odd – I’ve never had the problem in another car, and satellite signals can surely work around corners – but that’s the way it is.
The downside is that at this point you can no longer charge the phone, plus it has a tendency to slide back and forth, and of course it's on view for all and sundry to see (although I guess you’re unlikely to leave it in the car when you get out).
It’s also moot because, as temperatures drop, I’m getting a predicted 222 miles of range from a full charge, which is well down on my summer peak of 269. I’m sure connecting the phone is one of the smaller drains on electrons, but as the Mach-E’s own calculator tells me, using accessories is one way to burn through them, and cumulatively using all the accessories can add up to quite a significant drain. I’d rather not be wasting them on struggling technology.
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