In a time of total national and global political tumult, the only path to short bursts of sanity is to keep on doing what you do, as long as you can – so let’s continue to chat politely about automobiles, for the moment.

An interesting example of added-practicality to the sure-to-be-radically transformed world of electric vehicles, the 2025 Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally edition appeared last year.

While I’ve had extremely mixed results with the more standard versions of Ford’s unusual, crossover-styled EV – an unimpressive first drive in Covid era and a more practical outing last year – the burly and stylish Rally rendition is both much better and the same, in a couple of key areas.

Priced at $65,000, Rally is a heavily upgraded version of the Mach-E’s high-output GT model. In Rally’s case, that means a much-healthier 480 total electric horsepower and 700 lb-ft of torque from a pair of motors, plus standard all-wheel drive.

The Rally ships with enamel-white 19-inch wheels and largely capable but not truck-styled Michelin CrossClimate2 all-weather tires, a series of racing-style aero treatments on the lower front lip and a reasonably ridiculous aero splitter wing parked on the back of the roof.

The vehicle gets additional protection plates underneath, and has a heavily revised suspension and magnetic damping system that allows it the somewhat unlikely capability of gravel-oriented racing. Inside, the Rally adds stiff and stylish rally car-inspired shoulder bolsters.

Smart buyers may have noticed a huge pile of heavily discounted, equally special-edition Shelby Mach-E GTs on the market last year when Hertz car rental largely liquidated its national fleet.

But the Rally takes that vehicle and offers it instead as more semi-mainstream affair, though the same issues I had with earlier, lower-power Mach-E models struck me immediately on my recent Colorado drive. 

That is, while the Rally claims a total range figure (calculated by the probably soon-to-be-defunct Environmental Protection Agency) of 265 miles, mine was delivered with about 240 miles and drained those so gosh-darned quickly that my head spun.

Yes, the 480 horses are real and the Rally can gallop along, with blinding bursts of speed, but much like the even more powerful Kia EV6 GT, you better have a high-powered charger waiting for you when you get home, and keep your cavorting to something much less than 200 miles. It’s built to allow up to 150-kilowatt charging capability, roughly double what I’ve ever experienced at any public charger in Colorado.

Worse, when I used the Rally’s updated 15.5-inch, dash-eating central touchscreen, it over-confidently directed me to the only Electrify America charging station in southwest Metro Denver and then failed to connect. So I limped home with less than 50 miles of range and let the car people deal with that issue, a half week later. There was also a new adapter that allows properly connected owners to tap into Tesla charging stations; I was not one of those, either.

All of that, once again, was probably the closest connection to the regular, gas-powered Mustang GT, whose voracious appetite for fuel and its relatively small tank also limit its range, though gasoline is still moderately affordable and widely available, or was at least so on Thursday morning when I wrote this. 

It’s another curious niche effort from Ford, who triumphantly lost $5.5 billion on its EV programs last year, but have so far committed to continue trying to refine their EV offerings – as mentioned, these things seem to change every two hours in the February 2025 world climate, so stay tuned. 

Andy Stonehouse’s column “Mountain Wheels” publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Golden. Contact him at summitmountainwheels@gmail.com.