Following Tesla, Ford Drops Price on Electric Mustang Mach-E

Ford has slashed prices on the Mustang Mach-E and is vowing to increase production on its popular electric vehicle. The news comes just a few weeks after Tesla, Ford’s top EV rival, also dropped prices.

“The Mustang Mach-E was the number three EV model in the US in 2022 and the updated pricing is part of Ford’s plan to keep the SUV competitive in a rapidly changing market,” Ford says(Opens in a new window). The Tesla Model Y was the top selling EV in 2022, followed by the Tesla Model 3, and then the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Electrek reports(Opens in a new window).

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The new Mustang Mach-E prices are not as steep as Tesla’s recent 20% cut on the Model Y, but consumers will likely take what they can get. The two Mach-E trims that dropped the most— the California Route 1eAWD Extended Range and GT Extended Range—went down by $5,580 and $5,900, respectively, an 8-9% decrease. The base model, the Select RWD Standard Range, dropped $900 from $46,895 to $45,995. Customers who placed reservations for the Mach-E after Jan. 1, 2023, will automatically receive the adjusted pricing.

“We are not going to cede ground to anyone,” says Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer at Ford. “We are producing more EVs to reduce customer wait times, offering competitive pricing and…make EVs more accessible for everybody.”

The new prices bring a fourth trim under the $55,000 price limit for sedans to be eligible for the federal EV tax credit. Although Ford classifies the Mach-E as an SUV, the federal government does not(Opens in a new window), or it would have required it to be under the $80,000 limit for electric SUVs. Same goes for the Tesla Model Y, which now also qualifies for the federal tax credit after the price went from $65,990 to $52,990.

Mustang Mach-E Price Changes
(Credit: Ford)

Ford denies that the changes are in response to Tesla, even though the Mach-E and Model Y are direct competitors. “We have a different product, we have different customers,” Gjaja said in a briefing last week, The Verge reports(Opens in a new window). The Mach-E has more aggressive styling than the Tesla Model Y, though slightly less range (224 miles on the base model versus 279 on the Model Y).

Along with making the Mach-E more affordable, Ford vows to reduce customer wait times by increasing production. The wait time for a Mach-E is currently 18-22 weeks after putting down a deposit online, according to the Ford website(Opens in a new window). Tesla Model Y reservations are currently delivering in February or March, says the Tesla website(Opens in a new window), a maximum eight-week wait.

The Ford reservation site shows an 18- to 22-week wait for all Mach-E models.
(Credit: Ford)

Regarding Ford’s other EV heavy hitter, the F-150 Lightning pickup truck, prices have gone the other direction: up as much as 40% throughout 2022. Prices in the electric vehicle market have been a rollercoaster in the past year, largely due to an influx of new battery-powered models and the revised federal tax credit eligibility requirements that took effect in 2023, which introduced price caps for vehicles to qualify.