2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E vs 2024 Nissan Rogue

The 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E was a bold move by Ford, merging the iconic Mustang styling with a five-door electric crossover SUV. Despite initial skepticism, the design choice proved successful, with the Mach-E's long, narrow, and tall dimensions adorned with Mustang's signature galloping horse emblems, scowling headlights, and tri-bar taillights. This visual connection to the legendary pony car contributed significantly to its popularity. Since its debut in 2021, Ford produced over 150,000 units, offering various trims in Canada, including Select, Premium, California Route 1, and GT, with prices ranging from $56,995 to $92,745, excluding destination charges. The GT trim, in particular, stood out with its aggressive styling, unique 20-inch wheels, and a dark front panel resembling a traditional grille, making it a formidable competitor in the EV market.

Inside, the Mach-E GT exuded luxury and technology, with artificial leather and synthetic suede sport-bolstered seats, copper stitching, and a high-end cabin look. The interior featured a classic dual-cowl dashboard, metallic and gloss-black trim, and two rectangular display screens, creating a sporty, upscale, and high-tech ambiance. The Mach-E GT seamlessly blended past, present, and future elements, offering a compelling package of style, quality, and substance.

The 2024 Nissan Rogue received its first major styling update since its 2021 launch, featuring a new, larger grille that complemented its distinctive stack headlights and daytime running lights. The rear fascia saw minor changes, with redesigned inner taillight elements. The Rogue's trim levels in Canada included S, SV Moonroof, SV Premium, SL, and Platinum, each offering unique features. The Platinum grade boasted more black exterior trim and an optional black roof, enhancing its premium appeal. Inside, the Rogue's dashboard accommodated a new 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, giving it a more upscale feel. The Rogue SV models received new materials on nearly every interior surface, contributing to a premium ambiance.

The Rogue Platinum test car's interior design lived up to its billing as the highest trim level, featuring leather seats with quilted stitching and a new Chestnut brown colour option. Unlike some competitors, the Rogue's leather upholstery felt high-quality and well-suited to the overall nicely appointed cabin. The Rogue's interior design and materials elevated its status in the compact crossover segment, offering a comfortable and stylish environment for passengers.

The 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E offered a range of powertrain options, including standard-range and extended-range battery packs, as well as single-motor rear-wheel-drive (RWD) and dual-motor all-wheel-drive (AWD) systems. Power output varied from 266 to 480 horsepower, with torque ranging from 317 to 634 pound-feet, and driving range spanning 360 to 502 kilometres. The Mach-E GT Performance Edition featured an extended-range battery and AWD, delivering 480 horsepower and 634 lb-ft of torque, with a 0-100 km/h time of 3.7 seconds and a driving range of 418 kilometres. The GT trim included Whisper, Engage, and Unbridled driving modes, with an exclusive Unbridled Extend mode for racetrack use. The Mach-E GT impressed with its speed and driving dynamics, though the steering lacked the sharpness expected from a performance vehicle. The ride quality was firm, but Ford effectively controlled body motions. The Mach-E GT's efficiency exceeded expectations, with a test drive yielding 22.9 kWh per 100 kilometres, better than the official estimate of 25.6 kWh/100 km.

The 2024 Nissan Rogue's powertrain featured a 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine with a variable compression ratio, producing 201 horsepower and 225 pound-feet of torque. This engine outperformed competitors' standard engines, including the Honda CR-V's 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder and the Subaru Forester's 2.5-litre boxer-four. However, the Rogue's continuously variable transmission (CVT) was slow to transfer power to the wheels, detracting from the engine's performance. The Rogue's suspension felt firmer than the segment norm, impacting ride quality without improving handling. While the Rogue was quiet, the engine's droning exhaust note was less impressive.

The 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E, with its crossover SUV configuration, offered seating for up to five people and 965 litres of cargo space, including a sizable front trunk (frunk). The Mach-E GT Performance Edition featured performance seats with gray ActiveX and Miko upholstery, a stylish tiered centre console, and ample storage space. Rear-seat passengers enjoyed sufficient legroom and a panoramic glass roof, creating an airy environment. The Mach-E provided 841 litres of cargo space behind the back seat, expandable to 1,691 litres with the rear seats folded. The frunk added 133 litres of cargo space, designed for easy cleaning with a drain plug.

The 2024 Nissan Rogue offered competitive passenger space, with differences mainly in legroom compared to rivals like the Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Subaru Forester, and Toyota RAV4. The Rogue's cargo space measured 1,033 litres with the rear seats in place (1,028 with the moonroof) and 2,098 litres with the rear seats folded (2,064 with the moonroof). The optional Divide-N-Hide system allowed for flexible cargo configurations, and the Rogue featured a molded-in space for grocery bags and available power and motion-activated liftgates. The centre console provided additional storage, though accessing the floor-level tray was awkward.

The 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E featured a 15.5-inch portrait-oriented touchscreen running on Ford's Sync 4A infotainment platform, offering wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, FordPass Connect services, SiriusXM 360L satellite radio, navigation, and wireless smartphone charging. Sync 4A learned user habits and provided predictive suggestions, while the Bang & Olufsen premium sound system delivered excellent audio quality. The Mach-E also included a 10.2-inch digital instrumentation display and Phone As A Key technology, allowing smartphone-based vehicle access.

The 2024 Nissan Rogue's lower-level S and SV models came with an 8-inch touchscreen and wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. SL and Platinum models featured a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wireless connectivity, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, Amazon Alexa, and Google built-in apps. Google built-in offered integrated Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Google Play, though connectivity was free for five years. The Rogue provided multiple USB-C ports and a wireless charging pad on higher trims. Nissan Connect Services extended its free trial period to three years, offering remote features via a smartphone app.

The 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E came standard with Ford Co-Pilot360 Assist 2.0, including adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, and automatic emergency braking. The BlueCruise hands-free highway driving system was available, with version 1.2 adding lane-change and predictive speed assist functions. The Mach-E received top safety ratings from the IIHS and was a Top Safety Pick for 2022 and 2023. NHTSA ratings were incomplete, with top marks for side-impact protection and rollover resistance.

The 2024 Nissan Rogue received top "Good" ratings from the IIHS in several crash tests and a five-star overall safety rating from the NHTSA. Standard driver assist features included automatic emergency braking, blind spot monitoring, and lane departure warning. ProPilot Assist, available on higher trims, offered advanced driver assistance with lane centring and navigation-based speed adjustments.