Tesla may be at the top of the food chain when it comes to EVs, but Ford is taking its shot with the 2021 Mustang Mach-E. This new take on the pony car breaks a lot of rules, though. It’s a crossover SUV. But at the end of the day, it still has to follow certain guidelines. That’s why the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E comes with a useless emergency feature.

The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E at a glance

Ford has made the interesting decision to compete with Tesla by making an all-electric Mustang that’s a crossover SUV rather than a muscle car. That being said, the Mach-E lives up to its Mustang name. Thanks to its electric motors, it’s a speedy car. It can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, fast for an SUV.

However, when equipped with a supercharged engine, the classic pony car can accelerate much faster than the Mach-E. On the other hand, a conventional Mustang doesn’t offer much room for passengers or cargo. The Mach-E, though not the biggest SUV, is definitely roomier than its muscle-car sibling. 

Also, to compete with Tesla, Ford has spent a lot of time on the Mach-E’s interior. Though it sports some traditional Mustang influences, it offers a high-tech and luxurious interior.

The Mach-E’s two trunks

Like most SUVs, the Ford Mustang Mach-E offers more cargo capacity than a sedan or coupe. However, like a Tesla, the Mach-E boasts two trunks because there’s no engine block in the front. According to Autoblog, the traditional trunk in the Mach-E has almost 30 cubic feet of cargo space without folding the seats down, and there’s additional cargo space under the mats. 

The Mach-E gets about 59 cubic feet of cargo space with the seats folded down, average compared to other SUVs in its segment. Its front trunk, or frunk, is smaller than a traditional trunk. It offers only about 4.8 cubic feet of cargo space, less than what many Teslas provide. However, because frunks don’t offer much space to begin with, it’s not a big deal.

The useless emergency feature

According to the Federal Register, passenger cars are required to provide an escape release in the trunk. The U.S. government decided that frunks also need such escape releases. These features can be lifesaving. If you were to get trapped in a trunk, you could escape by pulling a lever or, in the Mach-E’s case, a button. 

For frunks like the ones in many Tesla models, the escape lever is useful because small children can fit inside them. That being said, this emergency feature makes no sense in the Mach-E’s frunk because no human could fit inside it. That’s because even though the Mach-E’s frunk has an average amount of space, plastic dividers compartmentalize the frunk. 

But like any other vehicle, the Ford Mustang Mach-E must follow government regulations. So it offers an escape button in the frunk. At least you know your cargo won’t go anywhere.