Ford Mustang Mach-E: UK pricing revealed for new electric SUV

UK deliveries of the Mach-E will begin later in the year, with the entry-level standard-range rear-wheel drive version starting from £40,270 and boasting a claimed range of around 450km and an output of 180kW from its 76kWh battery.

The extended-range version, with a 99kWh battery and a quoted range of 595km, will cost £9730 more at at £49,900 ($101,195), while an all-wheel-drive model starts at £46,750 ($94,810).

Meanwhile, the extended-range four-wheel-drive version begins at £56,950 ($115,500). That range-topping model offers 539km of quoted range and roughly 247kW of power.

That price structure places the Mach-E's two more affordable variants below the £50,000 threshold required to qualify for the UK government's plug-in car grant, which provides 35 per cent of the purchase price up to £3000 – meaning the car's pricing is likely to become even lower for UK buyers.

Price-wise, the UK's Mach-E price tag will see it sit somewhere between two other new electric arrivals to that market – Mazda's MX-30, starting at £30,495 ($61,860) driveaway (exclusive of the government grant), and Volvo's XC40 Recharge, which will be priced from £53,155 ($107,835) and doesn't qualify for the grant.

The Mach-E is Ford's first volume-production battery electric vehicle and will likely serve as a competitor to Tesla's Model Y.

The UK is the first right-hand drive market to receive the Mach-E, but it's possible Australia will follow, although its status Down Under remains unconfirmed, with a Ford Australia representative reaffirming to Drive that there was no current update regarding the Mach-E for Australia.

The electric crossover proved quite a controversial offering when it was first revealed in late 2019, with some taking umbrage at the association of Mustang, an iconic muscle-car brand, with an electric car – including Ford executive chairman William Clay Ford.

“They came to me and said, ‘We really think we can make this Mustang-inspired, really Mustang-like’," Mr Ford told Automotive News.

"I said, ‘You guys aren't telling me you want to call this a Mustang’. No one would say yes, but nobody would say no, either. I said, ‘No, I'm sorry, I don’t want to hurt the brand. This is not going to be a Mustang’."

“When I drove it, I knew it had to be a Mustang... As it evolved and I started to see the performance characteristics … at some point I realised: ‘Yeah, this is a Mustang. The pony could go on the grille’.”

Compared to most other Ford models, the Mach-E carries the sort of price tag buyers expect to see attached to a badge with premium cachet.

Matching the cost of the big long-range battery packs to the desirable Mustang brand, rather than to the semi-premium Lincoln brand offered primarily in North America and China, might now make more sense for the idea's early detractors.

Whether that will convert to sales, remains to be seen.