Why drive a Ford Mustang Mach-e GT on the road when you can take it to an ice circuit?
It’s one thing to test a car in real conditions…and another to try it out on a track. After the classic test of the Mustang Mach-e carried out a few months ago, we therefore decided to put it to the test in extreme conditions, on the ice. Direction Flaine, and its ice circuit for a frenzied sliding session.
Ice… it slips
Of course, it is with the most powerful version of the beast that we embarked on the circuit. With its 860 Nm of torque and its dazzling acceleration (0 to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds), the Mustang Mach-e GT seemed to us to be the most capable of replacing a skating rink resurfacer, with more fun.
For the occasion, our car was equipped with studded tires, which seems to be a necessary condition if we want to counterbalance the 2.2 tons of the machine once launched on the ice.
An electric on the ice, what does it give?
Driving in electric on the ice, it already gives a hell of a banana. The pleasure is immediate even for a beginner on this type of terrain. Admittedly, during the first laps of the wheel, the loss of bearings is total or almost. Our pachydermic SUV is just waiting to be taken on board at the slightest turn of the wheel. But the art of sliding is subtle and, this is our first lesson, can bend to the constraints of electric. Indeed, unlike a thermal car, it is much more difficult to manage and maintain the same level of acceleration in electric, the torque being immediate. We will need a few laps of the circuit to understand how to slide off the four wheels, how to “send” the Mustang Mach-e around a bend before accelerating suddenly once the nose of the car is placed in the desired direction.
Sliding in electric can give the impression of a slight loss of control, especially since the 2.2 tonnes of our SUV are just waiting to spin. A few more turns, and we can try the call/counter-call exercise. Here, the objective is not to let the rear axle decide the final trajectory, under penalty of ending up in a wall of snow. But there again, the Mustang is doing just fine, without diminishing driving pleasure.
It is on this type of maneuver that the electric motorization stands out. Indeed, whatever the thermal model that we can oppose to it, it will never be able to deliver so much power in such a short time, which makes its performance on ice simply stunning.
Driving on ice, but for what?
Of course, driving on ice is quite far from the daily life of an electric vehicle user. So what is its use. We will not return to the notions of consumption and autonomy, these being quite simply out of the ordinary in this type of exercise. The intense cold conditions and the driving on the circuit brought our consumption gauge beyond 65 kWh per 100 km, that’s for the anecdote. The interest is elsewhere.
In addition to the fact that it is a recognized disciple of motor sports, it allows you to better appreciate the behavior of a vehicle in very specific conditions. In our case, it had two virtues. The first, and not the least, is to confirm the sports DNA of the Mach-e. The second, and probably the most important, is to test the vehicle’s passive safety systems. Indeed, the electric Mustang makes it possible to deactivate some or all of the driving aids (traction control, ABS, etc.). This is by far the process that allows the most to realize their contribution. Indeed, even on terrain as slippery as ice, the Mach-e’s on-board electronics constantly attempt to correct driver errors and lack of road grip. What is surprising is that despite these extreme conditions, she manages to do so at times. The other lesson of this trip on the ice is there: certainly, we were pleasantly surprised by the dynamic behavior of the Mach-e, but the safety aspect of Ford’s electric SUV is at least as efficient.
