Ford Tested 36,000 Mustang Mach-E Batteries. Here’s How They Held Up After 100,000 Miles

The first ever Ford Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles passed their five-year test with battery health barely degrading, according to Forbes and InsideEVs. The so-called Class of 2021 marks the first model year of Ford's first electric Mustang. Forbes reported that the herd of electric SUVs hit their five-year mark after being evaluated on battery health following 2 billion cumulative miles driven. Ford put out a report on Monday that found the SUVs retained long-term battery health, with the average capacity of the collective fleet reaching 92% of the original, brand new battery capacity. According to InsideEVs, on average the cars had traveled 55,000 miles over 5.2 years and all the cars in the study featured nickel-cobalt-manganese battery packs, since Ford did not introduce a lithium-iron-phosphate battery for the Mach-E until the 2023 model year. Ford's technical lead for high-voltage battery cells and systems, Kevin Vander Laan, called this a meaningful, real-world view of battery state-of-health over time in a news release, telling InsideEVs in an interview that their report card slowly trickles in over time and looks great after five years. Ford stated that 95% of the vehicles fall between 87% and 97% battery health. As many as 2,000 Mach-E owners put in over 100,000 miles on the original battery, while a select 30 drivers went past 200,000 miles, with some pushing past 300,000 miles according to Forbes. EVs with over 100,000 miles maintained an average 91% battery health, while the 200,000-plus group maintained an average of 88% battery health. InsideEVs noted that putting on twice as many miles as average in the same time period barely impacted overall battery health. Forbes reported that Recurrent, an EV analytics firm, found earlier this year that its tracked Tesla EVs on average offered 86% battery health after 100,000 to 150,000 miles, dropping to 84% for 150,000 to 200,000 miles. InsideEVs added that Recurrent data shows the average EV retains 97% of its original observed range after three years and 95% after five years. In September, battery-health startup Aviloo released results from 500,000 EV battery tests showing most models studied after 150,000 kilometers had between 90% and 94% health, with the Mustang Mach-E showing 92.5% battery health. Ford recommends managing temperature extremes by parking in the shade on scorching days, preconditioning the cabin while plugged in, relying on Level 2 charging for daily driving, and using Level 3 DC fast chargers sparingly. Vander Lann stated that these learnings contribute to the development process for Ford's next-generation electric cars, including the sub-$30,000 Fathom pickup coming next year.