2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E gets five-star safety rating for New Zealand

There is still no confirmed date for the start of Ford Mustang Mach-E sales in Australia, but the North American-made electric SUV has received a five-star safety rating in New Zealand from Australasian and European crash test authorities.

The rating from ANCAP covers the Ford Mustang Mach-E's rear-wheel drive Select and all-wheel drive Premium models, but the flagship GT AWD model is unrated.

There is some uncertainty around the Australian Design Rule compliance for the Mustang Mach-E, as the ANCAP testing noted the absence of a top-tether child-restraint anchorage for the middle of the back seat.

“Installation of child restraints in the second row centre seating position is not recommended as there is no top tether anchorage,” ANCAP noted in its report.

The top-tether situation is one of the hurdles for Ford Australia to clear before it can introduce the car, previewed by Drive in September and likely to arrive in 2023, pending any delays.

Sales of the Mustang Mach-E in New Zealand were fast-tracked because of the introduction of the country's Clean Car Standard, a government initiative to force car companies to hit emissions reduction targets that came into effect in April 2022.

As a result of the new emission regulations, Ford New Zealand offers a range of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles it does not sell in Australia – including the upcoming E-Transit van and mild-hybrid versions of the Puma SUV and Focus hatch.

The Ford Mustang Mach-E is fitted with dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side curtain airbags as standard, as well as a centre airbag between the front seats and a driver's knee airbag.

The Ford Mustang Mach-E also has autonomous emergency braking – with car-to-car, vulnerable road user, junction assist and backover – as well as lane keep assist, lane departure warning, and emergency lane keeping.

Full points were scored by ANCAP for driver protection in the side-impact and oblique-pole tests, as well as child occupants in the side-impact and frontal-offset tests.  

ANCAP noted the front structure of the Mustang Mach-E presented a relatively high risk to occupants of an oncoming vehicle, and a 3.45 point penalty (out of 4.00) was applied.

The Mustang Mach-E scored a good rating for its lane-keeping and autonomous emergency braking ability, but rear AEB and driver fatigue systems do not default to ‘ON’ at the start of every journey so points were not awarded.