Ford Mach E getting RWD trim and different battery options?

Last week, Ford announced a partnership with Electrify America to benefit buyers of the Mustang-inspired crossover that we’re calling the Mach E until we get something official. The crossover owners will pay for charging through FordPass, but won’t need to pay the Electrify America’s monthly subscription fee during the first two years of ownership. But The Drive picked up on a line in Electrify America’s version of the press release that we didn’t see: “Ford will be releasing its all-new, Mustang-inspired electric SUV, that has a targeted EPA-estimated range of 300 miles with an extended battery and rear-wheel drive, in late 2020.” At no point in all the discussion of the Mach E has anyone provided reliable intel on a rear-wheel-drive only version, nor various battery packs. 

That sentence did not appear in the release Ford put out, which mentioned the crossover just once to say it’s “arriving next year.” When The Drive asked Ford about the Electrify America assertion, the automaker didn’t respond, but the fast-charger company edited the sentence to read, “Ford will be releasing its all-new, Mustang-inspired electric SUV, that aims to achieve a targeted EPA-estimated range of 300 miles.” As of writing, also pointed out by The Drive, the original wording remains only on the PR Newswire site.

So Ford’s got a long-range ringer planned, but one that could stay truer to the handling promised by its Mustang inspiration by turning the rear wheels instead of the expected front wheels. It’s possible the text refers to a way to decouple the front motor, making 300 miles potentially achievable when the crossover’s in RWD mode. Or there could be a version that’s RWD only. Electric motors aren’t light, and not having to deal with 50 kilograms of motor weight plus the mechanical and electronic extras to drive it is a huge bonus when every mile counts.

We’re also intrigued at the specs on the “extended battery.” On the possibility of such, The Drive pointed back to info provided by a now-deleted Reddit account by the name of LoboRaptor in April. The Reddit user wrote, “There will be a variant with at least 300 miles EPA,” while the performance GT model will get to 60 miles per hour in less than 3.5 seconds. Furthermore, according to LoboRaptor, the Mach E will look similar to the Jaguar I-Pace, and pricing will look similar to the Tesla Model Y — the $40K to $60K bracket.