Is a high-performance EV crossover a bad idea if you live in an area that gets heavy snow?
A Ford Mustang Mach-E GT owner who goes by ElectrifyCLT took to Mach-E Forum.com to share his recent experience driving the car in the snow for what appears to be the first time. He (Kevin) drove the car about 20 miles in a winter storm in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was much worse than the forecast suggested.
Kevin says he drove to a hotel with three passengers in the car. There were about three to four inches of snow on the road, and none of the roads had been cleared or salted yet. While three to four inches isn’t deep or heavy, it’s often this early coating of snow on an untreated roadway that’s the most difficult to deal with.
The Mach-E GT owner also points out that his car is still wearing all-season tires. Regardless, he was quite impressed with the high-performance EV’s ability to handle the winter weather. He can’t imagine how well it might perform with a proper set of winter tires. He writes:
“This is NOT a Mustang in the sense of winter weather performance.”
Obviously, Kevin means this in a good way. A traditional rear-wheel-drive gas-powered Mustang is surely not the best vehicle for dealing with snow. On the other hand, it seems the Mustang Mach-E is a pretty solid option.
Kevin shares a number of more specific tips and takeaways:
- As long as it’s not ice and just snow, the car handles fine on all-season tires.
- Keep 1PD engaged. The transition from power to deceleration keeps things smooth and traction pretty well dialed in. I never touched the brake pedal.
- ABS takes over even in 1PD mode if it detects slippage. Never lost control but the car let ABS take over on one downhill-while-turning-on a banking section at about 25mph. Did just fine.
- As with many situations, while driving, it’s not you that you should be worried about, it’s the others around you. A car flew past us at 45MPH on 275 only to end up in the guardrail 10 minutes down the road.
He also talks a bit about the car itself. For example, he says since there’s no warm engine, the Mach-E accumulated quite a bit of snow on the hood. However, it didn’t create any issues. That said, he does worry that this could become a potential problem on a long drive in falling snow.
Inside, the all-electric Mustang crossover remained warm and comfortable for all occupants. There were no complaints from anyone about the car’s comfort or the drive itself. The windows and glass roof stayed free of snow as well.
Kevin only pointed out one issue, which I’m sure most folks in our audience could easily help him with. He plugged the car in to charge it, and FordPass told him it would only have 155 miles of range when fully charged. He shared:
“Something must be broken with the car. Any ideas?”
Keyword: Ford Mustang Mach-E GT: How Does It Perform In A Snow Storm?