Next up in the InsideEVs 70-mph highway range test is the Ford Mustang Mach-E California Route 1 Edition. Kyle Conner from Out Of Spec Motoring had the opportunity to get a hold of one so he could fully charge it up, head out onto the highway in Colorado and drive the plug-in pony at 70 mph until the state of charge reached zero.
The California Route 1 Edition is the longest-range version of the Mustang Mach-E available. It's rear-wheel-drive and equipped with range-friendly 18" wheels with aero covers. It has the 98.8 kWh extended-range battery pack and can go 0-60 in the mid-6 second range.
Check out the entire library of InsideEVs 70-MPH highway range tests
The California Route 1's combined EPA-range rating is 305 miles per charge. Like other versions of the Mach-E, Ford voluntarily lowered the EPA range rating. The official testing came in at 314 miles per charge, but Ford asked the EPA to certify the vehicle at 305 miles. The EPA will do that at the request of the manufacturer.
Ford voluntarily lowers the official EPA range rating with the hopes of under-promising and overdelivering on the vehicle's driving range. They realize that EV driving range will be affected but a lot of outside variables, and by lowering the EPA range rating, they are hopefully helping to manage expectations.
| 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E California Route 1 | Official EPA Range Rating |
| Combined | 305.0 mi (491 km) *Voluntarily lowered from 314 mi |
| City | 323.5 miles (520.5 km) |
| Highway | 281.8 miles (453.4 km) |
However, when we do our 70-mph highway range tests, we like to look compare the results to the EPA highway range rating, not the combined result. In the case of the California Route 1 Edition, the highway range rating is 281.8 miles.
Kyle slightly surpassed the highway range rating and finished up with 287.4 miles. That's only 2% better than the highway EPA range rating, and only about 2 miles more than I got when I did the 70-mph range test with a First Edition AWD Mach-E with the extended range battery pack.
More 70-MPH range tests
That version of the Mach-E has a combined EPA range rating of 270 miles (434.7 km) and a highway rating of 249.2 mi (401.2 km). So I was able to really outperform the EPA range ratings when we did the test on the First Edition version, and not so with the California Route 1 Edition.
So check out the video and let us know what you think. If you have thoughts on why the California Route 1 Edition barely bested the results of the Premium AWD Mach-E that we previously tested add them to the comment section below.
About our highway range tests:
We always like to mention that these range tests aren't perfect. There are variables out of our control, like wind, traffic, topography, and weather. However, we do our best to control what we can.
We do these 70-mph range tests to provide another data point for potential customers that are looking for as much information on the driving range of a particular EV as they can get.
Source: InsideEVs YouTube