Is the Ford Mustang eBike a Show Pony Worth Your Time?

Licensing is a great way for well-known brands to make a little extra cash (or a lot, if you’re Ferrari) without putting in a ton of work, and slapping their names on electric bicycles is one of the latest trends automakers have embraced. Their marketing departments particularly like the broadly defined “mobility” tie-in, and e-bikes are super popular right now. It’s not our typical wheelhouse, but Ford offered to send us one of its offerings, so we thought we’d see what all the fuss is about.

What We Got

The Ford Mustang eBike is one of two branded and electrically assisted bicycles Ford sells. The other is the Bronco eBike, which has a modified frame, dirt-bike-inspired seat, and a rear coil-over shock and spring combo in addition to its off-road tires and sticker package. (There’s also a Mustang Heritage eBike, which gets exclusive red paint and retro stickers but is otherwise identical to the standard model.) All three are made by Australian firm N+, which also builds Mercedes-AMG F1-branded e-bikes.

Admittedly, we’re e-bike novices, but most of the specs look pretty good based on our research. The 750-watt hub motor on the rear wheel provides up to 1 hp and 63 lb-ft of torque, either as an assist when you’re pedaling or like an electric motorcycle when using the throttle lever on the left handlebar. It’s not the most powerful on the market, but it is competitive. Its four assist modes increase motor output as you go up the rungs, or you can turn it all off and get a better workout. They’re manipulated by a screen centered on the handlebars and a five-button controller on the left handlebar between the throttle and front brake.

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There’s less need for gearing with electric torque, so you get nine speeds on the rear wheel and a fixed ratio at the crank, controlled by Shimano components. Shocks front and rear are from DNM and can be locked out if you don’t need the damping (compressing the shocks can consume some of your pedal effort, putting less power to the ground). Brakes are Tektro discs and four-piston calipers front and rear.

You’ll be thankful for them, because Ford estimates the curb weight at 68 pounds. Based on our research, that’s on the high end of the e-bike scale. We strongly recommend getting a hitch-mounted bike carrier, or at least a second pair of hands if you must lift it into the back of a truck or SUV. Getting it into SUVs is particularly tricky because there’s no quick release on the front wheel, so you either break out the hex keys or leave it on. Putting it on the roof is not advised unless you’re really confident in your upper body strength and also tall.

Recharging via a 110-volt outlet takes 3.5 hours, and we observed it adding 22 percent to the battery in 1 hour. The instructions say not to use it with an extension cord, so park it near an outlet if you can. If your car has a 110-volt outlet, you can charge it on your way to the park, as it only draws 250 watts.

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Ride Time

You can of course ride without assistance or turn it on later, but getting going from a stop takes balance and effort, especially if you want to get going quickly. With a heavy bike, the electric assist is a big help and made us feel more confident riding in Los Angeles traffic. You paid for an e-bike, so you might as well use it like one.

Eco mode will get you as much as 60 miles of motor assistance, Ford says, but that comes with a lot of disclaimers about weight, terrain, tire pressures, weather conditions, riding style, and more. Most people riding that far are doing it on serious road bikes, so you should be fine for bopping around the neighborhood, running errands, or taking a leisurely ride someplace nice.

Changing modes just increases or decreases the amount of assistance you get from the motor. Eco tops out at 265 watts indicated, or 0.35 hp. Normal is good for 352 watts (0.48 hp), Sport for 525 watts (0.7 hp), and Track gets you the full 750 watts (1 hp). It feels like the torque ramps up quicker as you go up the modes, too, so you get more immediate acceleration, not just more assistance. Changing them on the fly is easy with the controller on the left handlebar.

Let the motor do all the work, and the bike tops out at 20 mph. Pedal along with it, and it’ll keep assisting you up to 28 mph, at which point it’s all you and your legs. We got it up to 25 mph down a moderate hill, so you really gotta work for that top end.

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On flat ground with pedaling, Eco is sufficient, and Normal is comfortable. If you’re looking to get going quickly, Sport is best, as Track feels a bit overkill for casual riding. In addition to accelerating the hardest, Track also seemed like the best mode for getting up a steep hill. It’s not powerful enough to do all the work for you, but it requires moderate pedaling at most. If you’re going to ride it like an electric motorcycle and not pedal at all, go straight to Track.

When pedaling, the assist comes in only when you pedal harder, be it accelerating or climbing a hill. There’s a moment’s hesitation between when you start pushing harder and when the assist kicks in, and it’s a bit of a balance keeping up the assistance without going faster than you want to. The best strategy on flat ground is often to accelerate with assistance, then coast, and repeat.

The full suspension, while unusual on a road bike, is also a boon. It eats up most road chatter and makes crossing driveway thresholds and the like far more comfortable. Whatever cranking efficiency is lost in compressing the shocks is more than made up for by the electric assist, so it’s a net gain all around. You can lock out the shocks if you really want to go for maximum range and top speed, but we prefer having the better ride quality.

Everything else works as expected. The shifter on the right handlebar requires a light effort and works quickly and precisely. The brakes are quite strong, as you’d hope they’d be considering the Ford Mustang eBike’s overall weight. The headlight has both high- and low-beams, and the brake light also has a taillight function when the headlight is on for better visibility when riding at night. The Pirelli Angel GT Urban tires require tubes (not unusual for this type of bike) and are very street-oriented but generally get good reviews from the cycling community.

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Room for Improvement

There are a few idiosyncrasies we need to address because they affect the ownership experience. Like most bikes, the Mustang doesn’t come with a kickstand, but Ford doesn’t even offer one. You’re on your own sourcing one good enough to handle the weight. At least Ford will sell you a water bottle holder for $20.

You can adjust the seat height—if you can find where to do so. It took us an embarrassingly long time to find the necessary hex bolt hidden under a rubber cover above the taillight. In fact, anything you want to do on this bike requires a set of hex keys, so hit the hardware store if you don’t already own some.

The start-up sequence also requires a bit of time. Push the miniaturized Mustang engine start-stop button, and it takes 5 seconds for the screen to boot up. The electric assist defaults to off, so you have to wait for the screen to load before you can turn on the rear motor. It pays to have a little patience before you start riding.

Finally, considering Ford’s “made in America” advertising now, it and N+ should consider asking the brake supplier to update the black and yellow warning labels on the brake levers with something approaching proper grammar. Right now, they’re just advertising the fact this bike wasn’t made by Ford and wasn’t made in North America, much less the U.S.

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It Costs How Much?

Our biggest issue with the Ford Mustang eBike is the price. At $4,000 plus tax and shipping, it’s very much on the high end of the e-bike market, and the specs don’t support the price. A cursory search turns up many, many e-bikes with as much or more power or range for 2/3 the price, some closer to half the price. Worse, the price only goes up from there. Getting any color besides dark silver runs another $390, and the Bronco eBike starts at $500 more before you change its paint color.

We have to ask what you actually get for the extra coin. The similarities with the real Ford Mustang (car) are limited to the three-bar taillight and start-stop button (the latter so subtle few will make the connection), plus some stickers and a Ford logo-splash screen on boot-up. Lose the last two, and most people would never guess it has anything to do with Ford or the Mustang.

If you’re a diehard Ford fan with money to spend, there are worse ways you could show your brand loyalty. For everyone else, consider a cheaper, lighter option.