While some of us here—and by some of us, I mean mostly just me—object to Ford’s decision to use Mustang branding on this vehicle, we’ve always agreed this is a pretty stellar vehicle. It drives very well, it’s practical and well-thought-out, and well-appointed even in this entry-level trim. On top of all that, Ford estimates a modest 435 kilometres of range, but it was ready to do well more than that—and there’s a larger battery, for even more range, available for only a few grand more. The 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Select is quite possibly the best that Ford makes right now.

Did I mention it drives well? It drives well. Ford could—and should—have re-skinned this as a Thunderbird or a Galax-E, and it would make a fabulous flagship luxury car. It’s quick, it handles wonderfully, it has terrific driver inputs through the steering wheel and pedals, and it rides beautifully. This is handily the best all-around chassis Ford has ever put together. If you’re in the market for an EV and you’re not at least considering one of these, you’re doing it wrong, because the Mustang Mach-E does everything right.

But whatever, this has all been said before, by myself and others. It bears a striking resemblance to the Mach-E Premium we covered last year, which itself was more or less a copy of the Mach-E California Route 1 we covered the year before. So, for this instalment, I hired an outside consultant to give me a fresh take on this: my mom.

My mom is exactly who Ford is targeting to get into these. She’s more or less only ever had Fords, and is very loyal to the brand. She’s had a Mustang, and still likes the idea of a Mustang but hasn’t really been able to justify the lack of practicality, at least ever since I’ve been alive. She loves the idea of never buying gas again, but is apprehensive about charging and real world usability. The Mach-E is aimed squarely at my mom.

“Oh my God I love love loved driving it! It’s so nice and quiet and comfortable. And zippy!”

I gave her a brief rundown of what one-pedal drive is, because the idea of not using the brake pedal had her gravely concerned about what she’d gotten herself into. I explained that electric motors are not like gas engines, in that when there’s no power applied to them via the “gas” pedal, they just want to stop. They’ll reliably bring the car to a complete stop just by letting off the skinny pedal, because they don’t need to idle like gas engines. They won’t keep the wheels spinning; they don’t creep.

“Oh so it’s like a golf cart? Okay…” 

More or less, yeah. I also showed her that conventional car behaviour can easily be enabled in the Mustang Mach-E’s settings menu through its enormous touchscreen display if she doesn’t like one-pedal driving, and that it definitely has brakes that can be used whenever needed. One-pedal driving is something I really enjoy about EVs, and I was really hoping she’d come to it as I have.

“You know, I wasn’t sure about when you were explaining it, but it actually feels really nice. I was surprised at how fast it felt totally normal. It’s so easy to live with. I think I only touched the brake pedal once.”

EVs deliver power in a very different way, too. There’s no hesitation, no delay, no downshifting, no needing to rev out or spool up. They just go. While gas engines need to rev—at least a little—to start producing power, electric motors naturally produce peak torque from a dead stop. So even this mild, non-GT variant feels quick, or as mom says, zippy.

“It’s so fast! It’s so much fun to zip around so quietly! And it’s like, not just fun, it’s actually nice to have when merging, especially if you’re stopped and merging into a lane that’s moving. Just zip and you’re good.”

Mom also really appreciated how quiet and smooth it was. We’ve all grown very accustomed to the background din and soft resonance that comes with even the most refined of gas engines. To have that just gone creates a really serene experience. Every automaker then goes to great lengths—above and beyond the norm—to insulate EVs from wind and road noise, as they become much more pronounced without an engine filling in the auditory gaps.

“I can’t get over how quiet it is. It’s so peaceful. And the seats are wonderful! It’s so comfortable, everything feels so nice, and there’s tons of room in the back for [my niece] and her stuff. I used every excuse I could to go drive it. And I noticed it has a little Mustang symbol on the ground when you open the doors, I thought that was cool.”

This Mach-E is a Select trim, the bottom grade of the trim walk, but it certainly doesn’t feel like. Everything does feel nice: the leatherette seats with their contrasting quilt stitching look like they belong in a top-spec vehicle, the minimalist dash design is elegantly executed with the mix of materials chosen, and the touch points like the stalks and steering wheel feel, well, nice. Nothing about this Mach-E says “base model” at all.

The Select starts at $54,995 with rear-wheel-drive and the standard range battery, good for an estimated 435 kilometers. This tester has some meaningful niceties added to it, like the very pretty Rapid Red paint, all-wheel-drive, Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving system—which my Mom didn’t get to try; I would’ve loved to hear that—and the Comfort Package Lite, which adds heated front seats with memory, a heated steering wheel, and power folding mirrors for $500. All told, this Mach E stickers for $61,195 as-tested but before taxes and fees, and also before any EV subsidies and incentives. Of course, the (almost literal) $64,000 question is, would my mom actually buy one?

“I mean, yeah, I love everything about it. My only real concern was the battery life, I thought it would go down way fast, but it seems completely fine. It had 375-ish kilometers of range when you dropped it off a few days ago, it’s showing 280 now, and I drove it more than that. I guess it’s about the same range as my Bronco, and I don’t know if we’ve ever used a full tank in a day. We still have the other vehicle if we need it.

This is perfect for most of what we do, and if we get a charger installed here, we won’t have to look for gas stations. And the maintenance is less too, right?”

Right. Ford only calls for a tire rotation and inspection every year or so. While I’ve harped on EVs for being alarmingly disposable and short-lived, I feel that could be applied to a lot of modern vehicles, EV or not. The tech has been around long enough that we’re seeing pretty respectable service life of more than a decade out of the costly batteries in these things. Ford also offers an eight-year or 160,000-kilometre warranty on them. And, for some piece of mind, the recovery rate of battery recycling is over 95 percent, so perhaps they’re not that wasteful.

“We’ve always wanted a Mustang, and this is one I could actually live with. I love the look of it, it drives amazing, it’s so nice … I really, really like it a lot. Like, wow.”

I’ve told anyone who asks that I don’t think EVs are suited to be an outright replacement for internal combustion, but I think they’re a great alternative for a lot of people. The 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E Select is one of the best-driving, most well-realized options in the EV segment. I still have my misgivings about the Mustang branding on it, but my mom sure seemed to like it, so maybe Ford is onto something after all.