Here's How the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E Fared in Its First 5K Miles

• The Mach-E's range goes the distance.
• The mega touchscreen display is a crowd-pleaser.
• The rear cargo cover leaves little to be desired.

Does it go the distance?

The EPA estimates a Mach-E with the extended-range battery and rear-wheel drive can go roughly 300 miles of range on a full charge. In Edmunds' real-world EV range testing, we saw a hugely impressive 341 miles of range. That's a whopping 41 miles over the EPA estimate (for those who may not have caught that).

And with over 5,000 miles of driving thus far, the Mach-E's range remains consistent. Its average lifetime consumption (kWh/100 miles) is 32.4 kWh/100 miles with our best consumption hovering at 27.8 kWh/100 miles. And, we recorded its best range at 327 miles, which is still over the EPA's estimate.

Suffice to say, the Mach-E continues to shine the more we drive it.

Big screen energy fizzles at times

You know what they say ... bigger is better. And in the case of the Mach-E's touchscreen display, it's a huge highlight. The 15.5-inch screen was a unanimous favorite among our team.

The icons are large and visible. And its native navigation is easy on the eyes, simple to follow and makes great use of the giant screen. Plus, in addition to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity options, you can also access SiriusXM satellite radio — all nicer touches than in its Tesla counterpart.

And while we found Mach-E's implementation of CarPlay allows you to easily stay in Apple Land, the EV struggles to connect and display information even when connecting through USB-C. The system actually has lagged quite a bit at times.

It doesn't matter how big the screen is; if there's nothing to see or if the display freezes or lags, it becomes a problem.

We didn't expect a finicky cargo cover

Don't get me wrong: Our Mach-E's cargo area is roomy and provides decent space for luggage. It has 29 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats, so even with a cabin full of people, you have a decent amount of space for cargo.

However, members of our team pretty much deemed the rear cargo cover useless. The material is thin and it attaches poorly, which meant if it was attached to the hatch door, oftentimes it would become disconnected from the door when the hatch was opened.

The chance of these separating also increases if you're driving with windows down. Or if it's a breezy day and you're unloading groceries with the hatch open. You guessed it — that can also cause the cover to wiggle loose.

Edmunds says

We are only one-quarter of the way through our year with the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E. Its good has definitely outweighed some of the not-so-good so far. We'll check back in another 5,000 miles and see if this EV has hit its stride.

Click here to learn more about our real-world experiences with the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Note: As of writing this, Ford announced a potential recall of 2021 Mach-E models due to a safety defect that might make cars immobile. We have not had any issues with this yet.