2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E Select review

Ford has updated its Mustang Mach-E electric crossover SUV with some improvements to the standard spec list, and to the performance on offer.

The entry-level Select RWD (rear-wheel drive) single-motor variant is the recipient of the greatest number of changes for this mid-life update, and it’s the one we’re focusing on in this review.

For those who hanker after something different to the rest of the EV crowd, it offers a lot to consider. But, without giving too much away, the competition is hot, and the official pricing for the Mach-E model range mightn’t be hot enough.

Read on to get the full rundown on whether the Select is the one you should pick, if you’re in the market for a Mach-E.

How much does the Ford Mustang Mach-E cost?

I went to the original Mach-E launch in Australia, and back then the prices were high. They’re still high. Too high, I reckon, for it to go anywhere near mainstream status – if that’s what Ford is aiming for.

I have to stress, however, that those are the official prices. There have been deals done on the Mustang Mach-E in the past, and I suspect it’ll just be a matter of showing an iota of interest in Ford’s only electric passenger vehicle that’ll get Ford’s showroom staff ready to do a deal for you.

For reference, the previous base model is available for $60k drive-away officially, and you’ll likely get more off that if you haggle hard. 

Seriously though, there are so many other options out there that might suit your budget better, and yes, most of them are from China. For what it’s worth, this mid-size electric SUV (which is officially classed as a large SUV but is actually shorter overall than the top-selling Tesla Model Y!) is made in Mexico.

To see how the Ford Mustang Mach-E lines up against the competition, use our comparison tool

What is the Ford Mustang Mach-E like on the inside?

There are some welcome changes to the base version of the Mach-E, including the now-standard fitment of electric front seat adjustment. As before, the front seats are heated and there’s a steering wheel heating system, too.

Beyond that, there’s a new, more efficient heat pump for cool mornings, and of course there’s dual-zone climate control, too.

Management of all that is done through the enormous tablet-style touchscreen, which still houses a rotary dial in the middle bottom part of it, which can function normally as a volume dial or, if called on, can also work to adjust your seat heating, fan speed, and more.

There is otherwise a touch-panel section at the base of the display to adjust other climate elements, and it’s not too difficult to get your head around those controls.

Above is where your smartphone mirroring display will sit if you’re using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, otherwise it could be the map display if you’re using sat-nav. 

Meanwhile, there’s an array of menu controls that you can dive into, including your drive mode adjustments, regen braking settings, charging timer, and more. I think Ford’s menu logic is pretty easy to get to grips with, and if you’re concerned that you’ll have to dive through menus to disable safety tech you don’t like, well, rest assured that – for the most part – the safety gear in use here is well mannered. More on that in the driving section.

The other display is for driver info, which is slimline and simple in its structure. Not overly configurable, but all the essentials are easy to see. 

The steering wheel controls take little learning and, furthermore, the cabin cleverness is well considered.

There are bottle slots and cupholders where they should be, storage nooks and crannies, a decent storage bin between the front seats, and a glovebox with a conventional opening system – an apparent rarity in the modern EV space. 

The material finishing is all pretty decent, with the fake leather seat trim being comfortable and soft, and the speaker-cover-style fabric for the Bang & Olufsen sound system spreading from the door cards up and over the dashboard. It’s quite pretty, and the sound system is a corker.

My biggest peeve with the interior of the Mach-E is the lack of a shade for the glass roof.

I’d prefer not to have a glass roof at all, personally, but the lack of a shield from the heat on warm days isn’t a pleasant experience, even if it’s not the ‘hottest’ of the glass-roof cars on the market.

In the back seat there is ample space for smaller adults and, even at 182cm/6’0”, I could fit behind my own driving position with a bit of space to spare. 

There are some good amenities, such as bottle holsters in the door sleeves, soft padding on the elbow rests, a flip-down armrest with cupholders, and map pockets on the seatbacks.

Beyond that, there are directional air-vents, USB-A and USB-C ports for charging devices, and of course this family SUV has ISOFIX child seat anchors in the window seats and top-tethers for all three rear-seat positions.

Boot space is reasonably good for a vehicle in this class, with 519 litres of cargo capacity on offer with the rear seats up, and that expands to 1420L if you fold them down.

Just be aware that there is no spare wheel under the floor – just a tyre repair kit, and a spot to possibly store some loose items or cables.

Otherwise, there’s a front bonnet storage (frunk) area with 49L of capacity, which is probably an even better spot for your charging cords.

To see how the Ford Mustang Mach-E lines up against the competition, use our comparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

The base model sees the biggest improvements as part of the Mustang Mach-E update, including a bigger battery pack, more EV range, and also more power and torque than before – we’re talking seven per cent more power and 22 per cent more torque compared to the previous Select.

You might be wondering why the efficiency claim is better for the base model than it is for the mid-spec Mach-E, despite having identical power and the mid-range variant getting a bigger battery.

It comes down to the type of battery fitted, because the LFP battery in the Select is considerably heavier than the NMC unit fitted to the upper grades.

Now, the official number is one thing, but on my test in the real world, I achieved a displayed return of 18.9kWh per 100km over a couple hundred kilometres of mixed driving.

To see how the Ford Mustang Mach-E lines up against the competition, use our comparison tool

How does the Ford Mustang Mach-E drive?

My first experience with the Mustang Mach-E a few years back left quite an impression on me. 

I drove it at the launch, across mountain roads in Queensland and then at the Norwell track and skid pan – sick, right? Yes, literally. I got sick. I puked. It was my first time getting car sick AS A DRIVER in any car…

So, to say I was curious as to whether the new model would repeat that situation would be understating it. And, guess what? No spews. The thing that made me sick, I’m convinced, was the sharpness of the suspension and the directness of the steering, which is presumably what Ford would want to point out as being positives… the very reason it’s called Mustang Mach-E, because it’s, like, sporty and stuff.

But I still think it’s TOO firm. The ride is unpleasant. It picks up on edges in the road, tosses your head like a salad when you enter a driveway or dipped intersection, and just frankly isn’t very comfortable, in my opinion.

I’ve driven all the EVs in this segment. Seriously, every single one. And the Mustang Mach-E is one of my least favourite, because of its rigid body control and the overall experience. It sucks on corners like a kid on a lollipop, eagerly lacquering the edges of the road if you push it hard.

Look, you might find it great. That’s cool. And I actually think the steering is pretty damn excellent, offering a level of directness and feedback that not many other electric SUVs can come close to. Put it in Untame mode, and it’s exactly that. A bit wild.

There’s more power, too, which helps it feel potentially more sporty, and there’s no denying that this will push your eyes back into their sockets if you slam the throttle down. It’s going to be as fast as you’ll really even need, even in this base-grade spec.

Then there’s the brakes, which have a single-pedal regen driving system called One-Pedal Drive, which can come to a complete stop if you want it to. It may contribute to green gills if you have sensitive passengers, and you can either have it on or off, with the latter making it more natural to drive.

Sadly though, the friction/physical brake pedal response is a little difficult to judge, not as bitey or progressive as in some other vehicles in this class. 

There’s a fake sound generator that you can have on or off, too, which will pipe a bit of stagecraft into the cabin through the speakers. It’s not too loud, but there is a bit of road roar intrusion on coarser surfaces.

I do appreciate the safety integration here, though, with the driver monitoring camera staying silent (as it should) until it’s really necessary, and the speed sign recognition system won’t chime at you either.

But I did find that the speed limit detection tech constantly misread digital signals on motorways in Sydney. I had it reading 110km/h signs as 70 or 90, and if you have the cruise control set to be speed-sign adaptive, that could have dramatic consequences, knowing tailgate-happy Sydneysiders.

For a certain type of customer it will nail the electric SUV brief, but I don’t think I’m that person.

To see how the Ford Mustang Mach-E lines up against the competition, use our comparison tool

What do you get?

As before, there are three variants in the Mustang Mach-E lineup.

2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E Select equipment highlights:

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• Tyre repair kit
• Single-motor drivetrain
• One-pedal drive
• Heat pump
• Automatic LED headlights
• LED tail-lights
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Black power-folding side mirrors
• Puddle lamps with ‘Pony’ projection
• 10-way power-adjustable front seats with memory
• Heated front seats
• Synthetic leather upholstery
• Metal Grey interior stitching
• Heated, synthetic leather-wrapped steering wheel
• 10.2-inch digital instrument display
• 15.5-inch touchscreen infotainment display
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Wireless Android Auto
• DAB+ digital radio
• Satellite navigation
• Voice-activated controls
• Wireless phone charger
• 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system
• Digital rear-view mirror
• Power tailgate
• Panoramic glass roof
• Dual-zone climate control
• Selectable drive modes
  • Whisper
  • Active Untame
• Keyless entry

Mustang Mach-E Premium adds:

• Brembo front disc brakes
• Painted red brake calipers
• Red interior stitching
• Multi-colour interior ambient lighting
• Black headliner

Mustang Mach-E GT adds:

• 20-inch alloy wheels
• MagneRide adaptive suspension
• Dual-motor drivetrain
• Ford Performance sport front seats
• Performance synthetic leather and suede upholstery
• Metal Grey stitching
• Untame Plus drive mode

To see how the Ford Mustang Mach-E lines up against the competition, use our comparison tool

Is the Ford Mustang Mach-E safe?

The 2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E boasts a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on testing conducted by sister organisation Euro NCAP in 2021. This doesn’t apply to the top-spec GT, which is unrated.

Standard safety equipment highlights:

• 10 airbags, incl:
  • Driver
  • Passenger
  • Front side
  • Rear side
  • Full-length curtain
  • Driver knee
  • Front centre
• Autonomous emergency braking
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Evasive steer assist
• Front and rear cross-traffic alert
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Intelligent adaptive cruise control
  • Lane-centring
  • Predictive speed assist
  • Stop/go
• Post-impact braking
• Reverse brake assist
• Surround-view camera
• Traffic sign recognition
• Tyre pressure monitoring

The Select and Premium grades have 10 airbags, including driver, passenger, front side, driver’s knee, front centre, rear side, and full-length curtains. Choose the top-spec GT and you miss out on the front centre airbag because it has different seats.

To see how the Ford Mustang Mach-E lines up against the competition, use our comparison tool

How much does the Ford Mustang Mach-E cost to run?

All Ford models sold in Australia come with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. But buy this electric Ford, and you get a longer warranty for the battery pack: eight years and 160,000km. That’s the standard for this class.

Unlike some other EVs, the Mustang Mach-E has some pretty short service intervals, at 12 months/15,000km. Some have intervals every 24 months/40,000km.

Even so, there’s a capped-price servicing plan that runs out to 12 years/180,000km – and the average service cost for the first five visits works out at about $158 each.

There’s 12 months of free roadside assistance, which extends out to up to seven years of cover if you maintain your vehicle at the company’s workshops, too.

To see how the Ford Mustang Mach-E lines up against the competition, use our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Take on the Ford Mustang Mach-E Select

I think the Mustang Mach-E Select is all the electric SUV you really need from this range of model variants – even more so if you can get a good deal on one.

It mightn’t have the most EV range, but it has more power and standard equipment.

For those reasons, it makes arguably the most sense of all of the Mach-E grades available.

CarExpert can save you thousands on a new Ford Mustang Mach-E. Click here to get a great deal.

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MORE: Explore the Ford Mustang Mach-E showroom