The Ford Mustang is one of the most iconic names in the entire automotive industry, not just in America, but in the whole world. It's one of those ubiquitous cars, where you don't necessarily have to be an enthusiast to know what it is. Ford has been making the Mustang for almost six decades, and they just recently announced the new seventh generation version. Amazingly enough, it's still available with a V8 and a manual transmission.

However, Ford also knows that traditional muscle cars like the Mustang soon won't be very popular in the automotive industry, and that electric power will almost certainly take over. That prompted Ford to put together an electric car which would use the Mustang name. In 2020, that car arrived in the form of the Mustang Mach-E.

2023 Mustang Mach-E Overview

The Ford Mustang Mach-E is a compact electric crossover which FoMoCo introduced in 2020 for the 2021 model year. This is the first time the Mustang name has appeared on anything else except a two-door pony car. The Mustang took on various forms throughout its life, including the infamous, product-of-post-Oil-Crisis-America Mustang II of the 70s. Now, there's an electric SUV wearing the Mustang name and badge, and people were not very happy, to say the least. It's important to note that the Mustang Mach-E doesn't replace the Mustang in any way, but it exists alongside the traditional pony car, at least for the foreseeable future.

RELATED: This Is Why Gearheads Should Consider Buying The Ford Mustang Mach ELike so many other electric crossovers, the Mustang Mach-E adopts the wind-friendly teardrop shape, which improves the drag coefficient, and as a result, the range. Ford has also implemented various design touches that we've grown to love on the regular Mustang, including the front "grille" design, the headlights, and those instantly recognizable taillights. The two-tone roof design also makes the Mach-E seem like it has a more sloped roof, when in fact, it's just a little bit taller, for even more headroom. For 2023, the only major change on the Mustang Mach-E is the addition of the Nite Pony package, which is Ford's name for the industry-standard black exterior trim package. This package blacks out the wheels, the trim around the windows, and various other bits. Ford offers four different trim levels on the Mustang Mach-E, the Select, the Premium, the California Route 1, and the GT. Single motor RWD and dual motor AWD versions are available, as well as two different battery pack sizes. The Mustang Mach-E competes with the likes of the Tesla Model Y, which is selling like hotcakes even on the used market, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the game-changing Kia EV6, the Volkswagen ID.4, the Audi Q4 e-tron, and the upcoming Fisker Ocean, which we're very excited about.

2023 Mustang Mach-E Powertrains And Drivetrains

Ford gives you a good amount of choices when it comes to the powertrain on the Mustang Mach-E. The base Select version is only available with the Standard Range, or the smaller battery pack, but you can have it with either RWD or AWD. Both versions make 266 hp, but the AWD version gives you more torque, with a tradeoff on range. The targeted range on the RWD version is 247 miles (EPA estimate), and the AWD gets 224 miles.

RELATED: Here's Why The Ford Mustang Mach-E Deserves More RespectWhereas the Standard Range battery gives you 70 kWh of usable power, the Extended Range battery, which requires the Premium trim level and above, gives you 91 kWh. If you want the maximum estimated range, which is 306 miles, you'll need the 290 hp RWD version with the Extended Range battery. The AWD version has an estimated range of around 290 miles, but it has 346 hp. Finally, at the top of the lineup, there's the GT. This one is dual-motor and AWD only, with 480 hp and either 600 or 634 lb-ft of torque, up to 270 miles of range, and an impressive 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds. The GT is also the one you want if you want to go sideways, and if you want your electric Mustang SUV to feel like the real thing, to an extent.

2023 Mustang Mach-E Comfort And Quality

On the inside, the Mustang Mach-E is a pretty major departure from all of its other Ford stablemates. There's a small screen replacing the instrument cluster in front of the steering wheel, whereas a massive 15.5-inch central infotainment screen dominates the center stack. The system runs Ford's latest SYNC4 software, but it does include a physical volume knob. The A/C controls are also always there, within easy reach. The Mustang Mach-E also offers a plethora of technology, including a smartphone app to replace your key, an optional Bang and Olufsen sound system, over-the-air updates for the infotainment system, as well as a Wi-Fi hotspot.

In terms of safety equipment, the Mach-E pioneers Ford's self-driving technology, dubbed BlueCruise. As long as you're on a mapped highway, the car will effectively drive itself, doing lane changes and paying attention to the speed limit for you. You just have to keep your eyes on the road, and the car will keep tabs that you're doing so. The Mustang Mach-E seats five passengers, and its cargo area boasts 29.7 cubic feet of space with the rear seats up. Fold them down, and that increases to 59.7 cubic feet.

2023 Mustang Mach-E Pricing And Launch

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Due to high demand, Ford ceased production of MY2022 Mustang Mach-E models, so only 2023 models are available to order. The base Select trim starts at $46,895, the Premium trim at $54,975, the California Route 1 at $63,575, and the GT at $69,895. It may not be quite up to the level of its gas-burning, two-door counterpart, but the Mustang Mach-E is a very sorted electric crossover with an iconic badge, and one that also offers a ton of benefits, both as an EV and as a car in general.