What Happens When Your Ford Mustang Mach-E Dies?

• We drove a Ford Mustang Mach-E until its battery ran out to see what happens when the battery dies
• Even after the indicated range hits zero, you have a little time to get to a safe spot
• If you need to tow the Mach-E, always flat-tow to avoid damaging the vehicle

The prestige of electric vehicles has grown by leaps and bounds over the last two decades. Once consisting of small runabouts with only enough range to commute to work or complete errands around town, the market has exploded to include cross-country cruisers and exotic supercars. After experimenting with an electrified version of the Focus for a few years, Ford is diving headfirst into the segment with the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Blue Oval's first vehicle designed from the ground up to be an EV.

Though the Mach-E offers an impressive amount of range from its battery pack (the EPA estimates certain models can travel up to 305 miles on a charge, which is corroborated by Edmunds' real-world EV testing), drivers might run into a situation where available range is ticking down and there's not a charger in sight. So what do you do when a Mach-E runs out of juice? To find out, we drove a Mach-E until the battery died.

What happens when my Ford Mustang Mach-E's battery dies?

The Mustang Mach-E's battery indicator — displayed in terms of remaining miles and battery percentage — is helpfully located on the left side of the instrument panel. The vehicle begins issuing an audible low battery alert as it nears empty. In our test of a Mach-E with the extended-range battery and all-wheel drive, the Ford began chiming when the battery showed an estimated 20% of range remaining.

But all is not lost if you are unable to reach a charging station before the indicated range hits zero. In our testing, the Mach-E was able to maintain our set highway speed of 65 mph for 5.8 miles after the instrument panel indicated an empty battery. After this point, the speed began to drop as we ran on whatever the electrical equivalent of fumes is. The Mach-E puttered for another 1.5 miles before it was rendered immobile.

What should I do if my Mustang Mach-E dies during a drive?

The good news is that the Mach-E won't die without giving you plenty of advance notice. And even when the indicated range hits zero, you have a few miles left to exit the highway, pull over to the side of the road or find a safe area to park the car while you wait for a tow truck. Getting an electric vehicle on the road again isn't as simple as pouring in the contents of a gas can, of course, so unless the tow truck has a portable charging station onboard, you'll have to get the Mach-E towed to a nearby charging station (preferably your home or a DC fast-charging station, if available).

When stopped, be sure to put the Mustang Mach-E into Emergency Towing mode, which allows the wheels to roll while the car is stopped. You can do this by entering the Settings menu, selecting "Vehicle" and holding the "Emergency Towing" button at the bottom of the screen. After that, the car can be shifted into neutral to allow the wheels to rotate. According to the Mach-E owner's manual, the vehicle can be towed facing forward with all wheels on the ground at speeds up to 31 mph for up to 50 miles.

For towing at higher speeds or longer distances, you'll have to call a flatbed tow truck. Ford specifies the vehicle must be flat-towed (whether on the ground, as in the above scenario, or on a bed) since towing with two wheels on the ground can damage the vehicle.

After the Mach-E is secured to a tow vehicle, simply take it to a charging station, plug it in and wait.

Edmunds says

Running the battery empty in a Mustang Mach-E is more troublesome than running out of gas, but there's enough warning and range built in that you can safely pull over and call for help. Hopefully you'll never have to use this information in the real world, but if you do, it should give you some peace of mind in a stressful situation.