Kiwi customers keen on Ford's first electric car

Wednesday, 1 February 2023

The Mustang Mach-E has seen price drops in the United States, which could be mirrored here.

Tesla recently dropped the price of its Model 3 and Model Y offerings, and it looks like Ford could be following suit with its incoming Mustang Mach-E electric SUV.

The Model 3 now starts at $70,900 – a $4000 price drop, while the range-topping Performance model has had its price dropped by $3000 to $100,900. It appears the Model 3 Long Range RWD has been phased out locally, having disappeared from the company’s New Zealand website.

Check out the process behind creating the all-electric Mustang SUV - the Mach-E.

The Model Y’s pricing has seen more modest change, with the entry-level grade now priced from $75,900 (a $300 price cut) and the dual-motor Performance priced from $105,900 (a $3000 price cut).

Meanwhile, the Mach-E’s American price cuts were mainly centered on the more expensive versions, with the GT Extended Range going from about US$64,000 from $69,900 before, a decrease of $5,900. The entry model went down by $900, from $46,900 down to $46,000.

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Interestingly, a lot of Kiwi Mach-E pre-orders are coming from current Mustang owners.

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One Mach-E already gets the Clean Car rebate, and it’s unlikely any price drops will bring another under the threshold.

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Stuff spoke to Ford New Zealand to see if any price drops were on the cards for us, and was told that it’s really too early to say. “We want to stay competitive, so we’ll take any opportunity to do so. But we can’t confirm if there will be any price drops at this stage.”

The spokesperson added that Mach-E pre-sales are healthy, with around 200 orders logged. Interestingly, most of those are coming from existing Mustang owners, with one of the first Mach-E orders going to someone with an RTR Mustang already in the garage.

When the SUV launches here, expected in Q2 this year, we will get three models. The range starts with the Mach-E RWD model, which gets a 75.7kWh battery, good for a claimed range of 440km. Next up is the Mach-E AWD, gaining the larger 98.7kWh battery pack and the highest potential range of the three at 550km.

Finally, there’s the Mach-E GT AWD, the most powerful model of the range, using the larger battery pack for a range of 490km.

Prices for the RWD model start at below that crucial Clean Car Programme threshold at $79,990 drive-away, while the AWD comes in at $109,990 plus on-roads. The range-topping Mach-E GT will cost $124,990 plus on-roads.

If New Zealand gets similar price cuts, there’s a chance the GT will slip below the $120k mark. Consider the fact it’s already a fair amount cheaper than the Kia EV6 GT ($139,990), the fastest Mach-E could be a serious bang-for-buck competitor. Though, the Kia is still more powerful, with 430kW/740Nm and a 3.5-second 0-100kph sprint as opposed to 358kW/860Nm and a 3.7-second run to 100kph for the Ford.

Nothing is confirmed yet, however. Perhaps we’ll hear more as we get closer to the local launch.