Report: Ford Mustang Mach-E in “Winter Sports”.

For some, an electric car is a clumsy machine that lacks faith and sound, unable to provide sporting pleasure. But the Ford Mustang Mach-E wants to put the lie to preconceptions by acting nervously, sometimes even quite pointedly. We took her ice dancing to measure her balance on the ice and see how she coped with the cold.

Decoration

We are in Flaine, a ski resort in Haute-Savoie. In the pit of the station is the ice rink for cars: more than 1000 m long and between 8 and 20 m wide, the largest ice circuit in France. Here you can drive your own car or get behind the wheel of school cars (Renault Sport, Subaru, Porsche or even Alpine) while the kids go skiing.

horses and hooves

For this event, Ford sent the most powerful versions of the Mach-E to the scene: 351 hp AWD and 487 hp GT, equipped with two engines and therefore all-wheel drive (without a mechanical connection between the front and rear) . The experts put Finnish tires (Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10) under their layers.

Frosty Mustangs

The circuit is located at an altitude of 1600 m, in the hollow of the valley, where the sun shines from the absence. Therefore, the cover is frozen throughout the winter. Well, that’s what we’re here for! The thermometer shows 0°C and the concern is not to discharge the battery too quickly… Batteries do not like the cold: they lose a lot of autonomy in these conditions, because of the conductivity and speed of chemical reactions in their cells. to fall Not to mention that heat also drains the battery.

Hot on the hips!

In order not to burn the electric reserves, we will drive without “central heating”, but with heating of the seats and the steering wheel. We will not be cold because we will grind our arms… For the rest, we come across the famous salon of a large Ford electric SUV with enough space and a large 15.5 “tablet screen”. And quite basic plastics in this range… We’re on board with an American car (actually this Mustang is made in Mexico, or even China for the Asian market).

“Eco-silent” slides

For this test, we’ll only have the AWD 351 horsepower version. No seriously, it will slide further: this is a more typical move, as its rear engine is more powerful than the front (294 hp vs. 57 hp, so when the two engines work together, it’s about 85% rear, and the distribution system can also be. It varies up to 30/70%, while the two GT engines show the same power (torque distribution 50/50% and in some cases up to 40/60%).

Before we hit the road, we blew up all the electronic suspension (the recent ESP AWD can also be completely disengaged at 351 hp). You never miss a catch when accelerating (on land this model goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.1 seconds). Shifting is instant, given the low grip and instantly available 580Nm of torque. And even quite cruel. Smokeless and silent glides. It’s a bit messy, but not annoying.

Heavy!

More annoying is the overall lack of feel: the steering wheel isn’t very communicative, and the brake pedal isn’t easy to hit with a subtle dose (which is the case with most electric cars). And above all there is the weight: 2.2 tons! In these slippery conditions, inertia is clearly felt when braking, cornering, and during sequences or takeoff/reverse phases.

The moral of the story?

We’ll remember that we can obviously drift on electric ice (especially with this Ford, which has all-wheel drive capability written all over it), but we’ll remember that we’re restrained by the weight, which means greater anticipation and smoother steering wheel movements. The moral is that to enjoy dancing on ice in an electric car, you should choose your partner carefully (a well-balanced chassis), dress him for the occasion (chipped tires) and not shake him too violently. The dance session will be quite short: during the attack in the cold, the Mustang Mach-Es consumes energy between 65 and 99 kW/100 km, which creates an autonomy between 90 and 135 kilometers despite the large battery (99 kWh total and 88). can be used). And without heating… Fortunately, on a daily basis Mach-E consumes less.

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