Michael Accardi 
In September of last year, Ford officially submitted the Mustang Mach-E AWD GT to the Michigan State Police for evaluation. The EV was submitted with other FoMoCo police pursuit vehicles like the Ford F-150 Police Responder truck equipped with a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6, and the Ford Police Inceptor Utility Explorer in three flavors: Hybrid, 3.3L, and 3.0L EcoBoost.
Other vehicles included in the test session were various versions of the Chevy Tahoe, Dodge Charger Pursuit, and Dodge Durango Pursuit. Each was put through performance evaluation and usability surveys where State Troopers rate each vehicle in terms of accessibility, ease of use, and overall comfort. Of the 11 vehicles tested the Mach-E placed dead last overall by a significant margin.
It wasn’t all bad though. The Mach-E achieved the quickest acceleration times in the zero-to-60, 80, and 100 mph tests. It also performed best in braking tests, stopping a few feet shorter than any of the others. Other highlights include the truck release, pedal size, and lower operating costs (battery replacements notwithstanding).
Unfortunately, the performance prowess shown by the Mach-E in straight-line acceleration and stopping tests did not translate to overall performance. Driven for eight laps of Grattan Raceway by four different officers, the Mach-E placed last in average lap time. Lap times began increasing as the battery charge depleted, even though 40 minutes of charging was allocated between each two-lap stint on track.
Officers also found significant issues with the comfort and usability for the Ford Mustang Mach-E. Steering wheel adjustability, mirror control accessibility, door locks, and window actuation were all big negatives. Overall it was ranked the least comfortable of all vehicles tested, and had the poorest visibility. There were also major issues with the rear seat usability and the ability to integrate police-specific equipment with the dashboard and center console.
Keep in mind, the Mach-E submitted for evaluation was not a full-blown police-spec vehicle like the others, it was simply a regular Mach-E GT wearing a police livery. It’s likely Ford submitted the vehicle for evaluation in order to better understand the shortcomings of the Mach-E from a law enforcement perspective before embarking on the development of a proper Mach-E Police Interceptor.
