2026 Tesla Model Y vs. 2025 Ford Mustang Mach-E: Old Guard EVs Vie for Supremacy

The midsize electric SUV segment is a relatively new one, but the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E have been in it from the jump and continue to be its bestsellers despite an onslaught of fresh competition. They’ve maintained their positions with continual refinements and updates—digital and mechanical—the latest of which have just arrived.

The 2026 Tesla Model Y boasts its first significant refresh, code-named Juniper, featuring a host of improvements, while the 2025 Ford Mustang Mach-E continues on its evolutionary path. Are Tesla’s predictable but much-needed upgrades enough to keep it on top, or are the more targeted enhancements Ford has made to the Mach-E enough to finally push it past the longtime segment leader? Let’s go for a drive.

What’s New with the Model Y

You can tell right away by looking at them that the Tesla’s had the more obvious exterior work done. Unfortunately, the styling updates to the Model Y are, quite frankly, a step backward in our opinion. We can forgive the Cybertruck lightbar up front to some extent, but the rear end is simply terrible. Multiple judges likened it to something you’d see from some knock-off Chinese car company no one ever heard of before.

It’s the opposite inside, where Tesla has clearly put in the work. The interior now feels richer and far more befitting the car’s price. We particularly like the cloth trim and genuine two-tone color scheme punctuated by ambient lighting, and we appreciate it carrying throughout the cabin. The new rear screen is a neat idea in theory, but it’s mounted by your shins, which limits your ability to watch streaming content on it or use it in any real way other than as a fancy climate control interface.

Tesla giveth, Tesla also taketh away. The Model Y’s shifter stalk is no longer, replaced by a digital slider on the upper left corner of the screen (there’s also a backup touch-sensitive controller on the ceiling between the lights) and augmented by software designed to anticipate (usually correctly) whether you’d like to move into drive or reverse. It all takes a little getting used to, as swiping up and down is little different than pushing or pulling a lever up or down.

Tesla at least left the turn signal stalk for the Model Y, a welcome retreat from the updated Model 3. The collection of buttons on the steering wheel is unusual, but at least you have them. Everything else is done through its one and only screen, which is starting to get awfully cluttered, especially when you open the menu and browse the dozens of apps it can run.

What’s New with the Mach-E

As Ford has forgone a big midlife refresh, the Mach-E has less to show at first glance. Far and away the biggest change is the shifter stalk on the steering column (right where the Model Y’s used to be), replacing the much-loathed dial shifter on the center console. Not only do we prefer the action of the stalk, but we also like how Ford used the space where the dial used to be to add storage cubbies, including one you can stand a phone in when you don’t need to juice it up instead by laying it down in the charger.

Other improvements have come over time rather than all at once. Ford upgraded the rear motor last year and pushed out new software to improve performance, powertrain cooling, and charging. And the Mach-E’s interior has improved beyond the shifter, with attractive cloth trim and contrast stitching applied to both the front and back rows. Following Tesla’s lead, the infotainment software has been updated several times over the years, as has Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving assistant.

Driving Differences

The Model Y’s most significant upgrade is hiding behind its wheels. New shock absorbers have greatly improved its ride, with the caveat being just how low a bar that is. The old Model Y never rode well, but that doesn’t completely diminish what’s been achieved here. The new one rides acceptably well, though it still crashes over larger bumps. Tesla has also made significant strides in quieting the Model Y’s cabin noise. The tires can get chatty on bad pavement, but as a whole it’s noticeably quieter inside than the Ford.

The Mach-E always rode well, and that hasn’t changed. It’s a bit stiffer than the Tesla, but as we’ll see, that pays off in the handling. Bumps are dispatched more assuredly, and body motions are better controlled, making the Ford far more pleasant on a long jaunt than the Tesla.

Each offers a one-pedal driving option for those who prefer it and the ability to turn it off for those who don’t. Both slow the car aggressively, requiring careful control of the accelerator pedal, and for this reason we appreciate the ability to alter the regenerative braking level on the Tesla that can help further smooth out the experience.

Differences in Comfort

Moving or not, we generally preferred the Ford’s seats. They’re softer and have more give in the cushions, especially in the rear. On the other hand, the Model Y feels airier and more spacious, especially in the back. The Mach-E suffers in part from a smaller rear door opening, making it harder to get in and out of, and once you’re back there, it’s a tighter fit. In fact, the Tesla is better packaged in general, offering more space for both passengers and cargo. Both vehicles are hatchbacks, yet the Model Y offers more space with the rear seats folded and also offers a large, hidden compartment under the cargo floor. The Mach-E has a smaller compartment that’s taken up by a tire repair kit and portable charger. Each has a frunk (front trunk), as well, and both are large enough to be genuinely useful, but the Tesla’s is noticeably bigger.

Both cars come with panoramic sunroofs, but we’ll take the Ford’s smaller sheet of glass and its physical sunshade all day long. The Model Y tries to get by with tint and anti-UV coatings, but on a pleasant summer day, judges felt like they were broiling in a solar oven. The Ford’s power shade was deeply appreciated, especially considering the flimsy, see-through accessory shade Tesla has the nerve to charge $105 for.

Blasting the air conditioning helps, of course, and here again we prefer Ford’s traditional solution. Vents you physically adjust don’t need to be disrupted. While the science behind Tesla’s semi-hidden air vents is indisputably cool, we simply don’t care. Having to adjust the airflow with the screen is dumb, and every manufacturer that does it needs to knock it off.

Tech Differences

As for the screens themselves, we’re mixed but leaning toward the Ford. The Mach-E portrait orientation has its pluses and minuses, always keeping more functions available, but pushing some of them down to your knees requires moving your eyes well off the road to use them. We also like the multifunction knob on the screen that does volume, temperature, and seat heaters/coolers.

The Model Y’s landscape interface is slicker but has its own issues. Pushing everything to the screen while trying to retain a minimalist look requires burying far too many common functions in menus. We also still don’t like having to look over there to see critical information like the speedometer, battery level, and driver assistance status.

Both screens drove us crazy with their insistence on moving things around. Each tries to be helpful by rearranging apps on a lower dock based on which ones you’ve been using most frequently, and we hate it. Trying to find specific functions while driving is much harder when they keep moving around.

An easy fix is to just use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, at least in the Ford. Tesla refuses to incorporate either, which was a deal-breaker for some judges.

Similarly, Tesla’s insistence on creating a pixelated heat map parking aid rather than employing a 360-degree camera system common to so many cars, Mach-E included, is disappointing. We’d rather see what we’re at risk of hitting in the parking lot than an approximation.

FSD (Supervised) or BlueCruise?

We can’t talk tech without addressing the semi-automated driver assistance systems in the room. Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” gets all the headlines, but is it better than Ford’s BlueCruise? It’s complicated, but in a word, no.

Our verdict comes down to results. BlueCruise does everything it promises and does those things very well. FSD (Supervised) does more things but does them inconsistently at best and sometimes downright poorly.

Both systems take over acceleration, braking, and steering when activated, but only BlueCruise is hands-free. Tesla still makes you hold the wheel and jiggle it occasionally to prove you’re remaining engaged. Both make fully automatic lane changes, deciding on their own to move over and pass slower traffic then move back afterward. We found BlueCruise to be the better system at moving the car back over.

Each system also uses driver-monitoring cameras to ensure drivers are looking at the road while the system is engaged. Here, again, we found BlueCruise to be superior. It was able to see the driver more consistently, resulting in fewer disengagements and false warnings to look at the road. FSD (Supervised) struggled more with sunglasses and would switch back and forth between “advanced” camera-based monitoring and basic steering wheel input monitoring, throwing endless notifications on the screen. Speaking of, BlueCruise is far better at communicating visually with the driver thanks to a small instrument cluster screen above the steering wheel; that screen turns blue when BlueCruise is engaged. Tesla’s combination of subtler visual indicators over on the center screen takes more effort to monitor while driving.

In terms of how they actually drove, we found the systems to be generally equal. Both are good at keeping the vehicle in the center of the lane even around corners, accelerating and braking naturally, changing lanes assertively but safely, and reacting to other vehicles. We like the ability to adjust how aggressive the system drives in the Tesla, but we’re fine with the Ford’s singular attitude.

There’s no denying FSD (Supervised) has more functions and operates in far more environments, but this advantage is also its undoing. Whereas BlueCruise only operates on pre-mapped highways, it does so superbly. FSD (Supervised) works on any road, but your experience will vary significantly. We were impressed by its ability to recognize and respond to stop signs and traffic lights without driver input. Outside of town, though, it struggled mightily on narrow country roads with only yellow centerlines and no white lines on the shoulders. Navigate on Autopilot chose the country road then proceeded to drive like a scared teenager, slowing to as little as 15 mph for corners and crossing the centerline multiple times before we turned it off.

We tried that feature again on the highway and sure enough, it drove us all the way to our hotel with no driver inputs. It was truly impressive, right up until it reached its destination. Each judge was dropped off in a different location and none of them actually in the hotel parking lot. Sure, the car would enter the correct parking lot every time, but then it would panic and leave. One person was taken around back to the service entrance, another across the street to a different business. In one case, the car prepared to exit the parking lot, put its turn signal on, pulled halfway into traffic, then stopped with its signal still on and declared itself done.

Given this and our overall experience with FSD (Supervised) in our long-term Model Y, we remain unconfident in the technology. It simply makes too many errors for us to trust it. BlueCruise is more limited, but it does exactly what it says it will without seeing “ghosts,” getting confused, or making dangerous maneuvers—all of which FSD (Supervised) is prone to do at times.

A Difference in Charging

In the past, entire MotorTrend comparisons have been decided on the EV charging experience. Tesla used to hold an enormous advantage thanks to its homegrown Supercharger network, but it has ceded that leverage by opening up the network to competing automakers. Yes, the Mach-E requires an adapter, and it’s expensive at $200, but it completely eliminates the hassle of public charging. Ford’s built-in route planner has also closed the gap to Tesla’s, eliminating that advantage, as well.

When it comes to charging, however, the Model Y is still well ahead of the Mach-E. Ford’s battery technology caps fast charging at 150 kW to the Tesla’s 250 kW, and it shows up big time in our testing. The Model Y adds an additional 36 miles of range every 15 minutes compared to the Mach-E, meaning you’ll be done and on your way several minutes sooner.

Once you’re finally charged up and out on the road, you won’t get any farther in the Tesla. Although its EPA range rating is 11 miles greater than the Mach-E’s, in our Road-Trip Range test—driving at a constant 70 mph until the battery level drops from 100 percent to 5 percent—both cars go the exact same distance of 252 miles. The Model Y will get in and out of the charger quicker, but it won’t get you to your destination that much sooner.

A Difference in Performance

The Mustang name may have been chosen to convey performance, but there’s no sugar-coating it: The Ford was roundly trounced by the Tesla in our instrumented testing. The Model Y is quicker in a straight line no matter the distance, grips harder on the skidpad, and posts a quicker lap on our figure-eight course. The only metric in which the two cars tied is emergency braking from 60 mph to zero.

But look closer at the numbers, and some interesting context emerges. The Ford generates considerably more torque and multiplies it by shorter gearing, which helps it launch slightly harder. But the Tesla has a bit more horsepower, so above 50 mph, it starts to overtake the Mach-E. In the turning tests, both cars would’ve performed better had their makers allowed them to, Ford with better tires and Tesla with a way to deactivate the traction and stability control. That they tied in braking is also interesting, as the Tesla is both lighter and running higher-performance tires, which should’ve given it an advantage. Instead, the Model Y’s brakes began to fade badly after three tests, whereas the Ford’s held up fine.

All that said, the Tesla’s advantage under instrumentation fails to carry over to the real world. The Mach-E is the far more fun car to drive. It lives up to the Mustang name in the corners and demonstrates the advantage of decades of institutional knowledge. Ford knows how to make a car go around corners in a way that’s engaging and rewarding.

It’s as if a bit of the Mach-E Rally suspension magic has been sprinkled on the regular car, which in the past was nice to drive but not nearly this entertaining. The body motions are tight and deliberate, the brakes strong, the steering appropriately weighted and even providing a little feedback. The tires give up too easily, and they’re noisy about it, but they can be replaced.

The Model Y, by contrast, is a bit too paint-by-numbers in its approach. The steering is very quick but provides no feedback. The body rolls quite a lot, which isn’t inherently bad but in this case lacks the finesse to inspire absolute confidence. It grips well, and the tires don’t complain, nor were the brakes an issue. It accelerates hard in all situations, but that’s kind of its only party trick. None of our judges thought it handled poorly, but none of them would shut up about how much they liked driving the Ford better.

A Difference in Price—and Value

For a long while, it seemed only Tesla could make a relatively affordable EV, but that’s no longer the case. In fact, this all-wheel-drive Mach-E starts $3,640 cheaper than the all-wheel-drive Model Y here. Both get you with the options, Ford to the tune of about $11,000 in this case and Tesla for $13,000.

Not only is the Mach-E $5,000 cheaper as-tested, but it’s a better value to boot. As we’ve seen, it’s more comfortable, rides better, has equal or better technology, and is more fun to drive. The Tesla has its advantages, but we’re willing to wait a bit longer at the charger and endure a bit more interior noise to save $5,000.

There Can Be Only One

Thanks to years of continuous improvements, some small and some large, the Model Y and Mach-E continue to be class leaders and buyer favorites. As a result of those refinements, they’re more closely matched than ever. Historically, the Tesla has been the car to beat in this division, but giving up its charging advantage and betting on unfinished driver assistance software have left it vulnerable. Every judge had the same question coming into this test: Is the Juniper update enough to keep the Model Y on top? The answer is no. Ford’s systematic enhancements, coupled with Tesla’s missteps, have made the Mustang Mach-E the better all-around midsize electric SUV.

2nd Place: Tesla Model Y

Verdict: Tesla rested on its laurels, and that’s starting to catch up with it.

1st Place: Ford Mustang Mach-E

Verdict: It doesn’t need to push boundaries to be the best all-around midsize electric SUV.