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A red 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E drives next to a lake

Does the Ford Mustang Mach-E Have More Range Than the Tesla Model Y?

Regardless of what you think of the name, you can’t deny the anticipation surrounding the Ford Mustang Mach-E. After all, the First Edition Mach-Es are completely sold out. The EV’s production delay, though, gives its biggest rival, the Tesla Model Y, a chance to grab market share. But a recent test may give potential Model …

Regardless of what you think of the name, you can’t deny the anticipation surrounding the Ford Mustang Mach-E. After all, the First Edition Mach-Es are completely sold out. The EV’s production delay, though, gives its biggest rival, the Tesla Model Y, a chance to grab market share. But a recent test may give potential Model Y customers some pause. That’s because the Ford Mustang Mach-E may be able to go further on a charge than the Tesla Model Y.

The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E’s recent range test

A red 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E drives next to a lake
2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E | Ford

The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E will be available in 2 trims. The standard-range model has a 75.7-kWh battery pack, and the extended-range model a 98.8-kWh pack, Car and Driver reports. With rear-wheel drive, the EPA estimates the extended-range model has 300 miles of range. With AWD, that’s cut down to 270 miles.

However, as the Porsche Taycan has shown, EPA estimates aren’t always real-world accurate. And it appears the Mustang Mach-E has demonstrated this fact once again, The Drive reports. Typically, though, electric car ranges are over-estimated. This time, however, it appears the EPA may be underestimating the Ford electric crossover’s range.

The Ford Mustang Mach-E’s range test was run Ford of Norway’s CEO Gunnar Berg. Starting from Trondheim, Berg drove south to the capital city of Oslo in an AWD Mustang Mach-E. As the crow flies, that’s 301 miles, InsideEVs reports. On public roads? It’s closer to 309 miles.

However, when Berg arrived in Oslo, the EV still had some range to spare. According to European testing standards, the AWD extended-range Mach-E is theoretically capable of 335 miles on a charge. But based on how much charge Berg had left, the crossover’s real-world range works out to 356 miles.

So based on Berg’s test, it appears the Ford Mustang Mach-E may be more efficient than Ford, the EPA, or the EU’s equivalent agency, estimated. But what about the Tesla Model Y?

How does the Tesla Model Y’s range compare?

2020 Tesla Model Y AWD Performance side
2020 Tesla Model Y AWD Performance side | Doug Demuro via YouTube

Tesla’s EVs promise large ranges. The newly-updated Model S, for instance, has a claimed 402 miles of range. And in Long Range trim, the Model 3 is estimated to do 310 miles on a charge. In comparison, the Tesla Model Y Long Range, with its 80.5-kWh pack, has an EPA-estimated 316 miles of range, Car and Driver reports.

But, as Carwow and Car and Driver have demonstrated, Teslas have struggled to deliver on those promises. To be fair, they do offer some of, if not the longest ranges available today. And few, if any EVs’ EPA estimates match real-world performance. Nevertheless, the Model 3 and Model S are not as efficient as the EPA’s testing procedures, or Tesla itself, claim they are.

And it’s a similar story with the Tesla Model Y. Despite its trick heat pump, in Car and Driver’s testing, the electric crossover saw a highway range of 220 miles. In InsideEVs highway testing, the Model Y saw 276 miles of range.

Is this really a slam-dunk for Ford?

Based on this, it seems like the Ford Mustang Mach-E beats the Tesla Model Y on range. However, that’s not necessarily the case.

First of all, we know nothing about Berg’s Mach-E except that it’s an AWD extended-range model. There are also no specific details about the trip, which, The Drive points out, was run by a Ford employee. And traffic in Norway doesn’t necessarily equate to traffic in, say, Chicago or Los Angeles.

Secondly, the Mustang Mach-E’s extended-range battery has more capacity than the Model Y’s pack. Naturally, all other things being equal, the Ford would travel farther on a charge. But what about efficiency? Averaging InsideEVs’ and Car and Driver’s Model Y results, the Tesla’s highway efficiency works out to 3.08 mi/kWh. In contrast, based on Berg’s test, the Mach-E gets 3.60 mi/kWh. But if we go by EPA estimates, it drops to 3.04 mi/kWh.

So, does the Ford Mustang Mach-E really have more range than the Tesla Model Y? Maybe. We’ll have to wait until Ford’s EV arrives and gets strapped to official testing equipment to truly find out.

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