Despite watching more and more people in my life adopt EVs, I’ve never thought of them as “cool” cars. But then I had a chance to test drive the Ford Mach-E Rally, a $60,000 EV that I don’t think could be any cooler if it tried.
Though I must specify — I test drove the Ford Mach-E Rally at an actual rally racing school. Like, the kind where you’re guaranteed to get mud all over your clothes and you need to wear a neck restraint. I’d hardly heard of rallying let alone knew how to a race a rally-grade car, but luckily the Mach-E made it easy to learn. You can find out why in the full video from the experience below:
As an evolution of the surprisingly-approachable Ford Mach-E GT I took for a 100-mile spin, the Mach-E Rally takes performance a step further with rugged sensibilities. It features 19-inch rally wheels, Brembro front brakes, a MagneRide damping system with a higher 1-inch lift and integrated fog lights. The anti-scratch paint treatment and aluminum underbody help keep the car in one piece, even on the muddiest gravel roads.
This all-wheel-drive EV is powered by Ford’s new in-house manufactured e-motor (also found on the F150 Lightning) with 480 horsepower and 700 pounds of torque. But it’s when you put it into its special RallySport mode where you’ll start to have some fun. It pushes some of the power towards the back of the car, increasing the rear wheel spin for a drifting-style driving experience.
I tried running the beginner’s course at the rally school first without RallySport enabled, taking the unfamiliar terrain slow. Ready to pick up some speed on the next go-round, RallySport toggled on, I trusted the Mach-E Rally to do its thing. Coming up on curvy turns, I laid off the power slightly and tapped the brakes while cutting the steering wheel, causing the tires to whip around in behind me and make a spectacle of mud flying everywhere.
With guidance from experienced instructors, I was soon sliding and gliding throughout the rally courses. Despite my brain yelling at me to slow down, I came to command the Mach-E Rally confidently, knowing that the car is built to handle this style of driving.
Though as someone who doesn't see themselves spending the weekends on rally courses, spending about $60,000 for a bright yellow car with racing stripes on the front hood might not make a lot of sense (note: there are less flashy colors and the stripes are optional.) But as you'll see in the video, I also took it on-road to see how it fares for daily use, and was pleasantly surprised. Give it a full watch if you want to get a hands-on sense of how it went.
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