- New Ford Puma Gen-E - our first drive
- Electric crossover is understated but impresses
- Supremely comfortable at motorway speeds
- HUGE boot - bigger than you get with regular Puma
You wouldn’t expect a bright yellow car to offer a slightly understated experience, but that’s what we found with the Ford Puma Gen-E.
It’s a car that eschews fanciness in favour of getting the job done in an accomplished and impressive manner.
And while an electric version of the Ford Puma - Britain’s best-selling car, no less - has been a long time coming, we’re glad it has finally arrived.
Quick stats
Before we take you behind the wheel, let’s have a quick recap.
The Ford Puma Gen-E was unveiled at the tail end of 2024 before arriving properly in the last few weeks.
Some have suggested that a battery-powered variant of the Puma is a little late to the party, with electric versions of crossovers like the Peugeot 2008, Vauxhall Mokka and Jeep Avenger having already been around for a good few years.
It’s also fair to say that the Ford Puma Gen-E doesn’t rewrite the rulebook on compact EVs like the Kia EV3 (World Car of the Year 2025) has.
But, having said all of that, the Ford Puma Gen-E is still a welcome addition to the market and one that’s extremely hard to fault.
Battery and range
All variants of the Ford Puma Gen-E come with a 54 kWh battery (43 kWh usable capacity) that unlocks a range of up to 233 miles between charges, depending on the trim.
That’s not particularly earth-shattering when you consider the Kia EV3 can travel up to 375 miles between trips to the plug, but it’s about on a par with the Vauxhall Mokka Electric and the Jeep Avenger EV.
The Puma Gen-E supports rapid charging at 100 kW DC which, again, won’t grab any headlines but which is basically the same as the Mokka and the Avenger.
An energy restore from 10-80% should take around 23 minutes at a rapid public station, which ain’t bad at all.
Styling
When you produce Britain’s best-selling car, you probably don’t want to mess with a winning formula.
Which is why the Ford Puma Gen-E looks pretty much identical to the regular Puma. There are a few notable differences, though.
The front grille is closed-off, with the design borrowed from the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Ford Capri, while there’s white ‘PUMA’ lettering on the boot and what looks like a more aerodynamic rear spoiler.
Other than that, though, you’d struggle to tell the difference between this and the petrol car. Again, that’s no bad thing, as the bug-eyed Puma has always been a bit of a looker.
Would we like to see a sportier ST version of the Puma Gen-E with slightly more aggressive exterior styling? Too right we would, and hopefully that car is coming around a future bend.
Cabin and interior
Our Puma Gen-E test car is impossible to miss in its ‘Electric Yellow’ paint (‘Frozen White’ is your no-cost leasing option).
And we were expecting similar theatrics in the cabin - but the opposite is true. Instead you’re greeted by a minimalist, uncluttered and elegant interior that’s at complete odds to the garish hues of the outside.
Soft touch materials abound with lovely stitching across the centre and fabric upholstery on the dash.
The steering wheel is slightly unusually-shaped and feels bigger in the hands compared with other rivals. But there's a method in the madness.
Unlike other smaller steering wheels that can block your view of the instrument panel behind (it can’t just be us, right?), the Puma Gen-E’s wheel gives you an interrupted view of the digital cockpit.
Speaking of screens, the digital gauge screen measures 12.8 inches while the touchscreen (complete with full connectivity and Alexa built-in) measures 12 inches.
It doesn’t feel quite as integrated into the cabin as other screens but it comes with Ford’s flawless ‘SYNC 4’ operating system and a 5G modem, which puts all of your favourite apps at your fingertips.
Space and practicality
There’s ample room in the front for passengers but while the seats in the rear are plush and comfy, there’s a slight lack of legroom when compared to competitors.
If you’ve got small kids or teenagers, you won’t care one bit, but if you’re ferrying around adults more regularly, it might be something to consider.
What the Ford Puma Gen-E is really NOT lacking in is the luggage space.
One of the petrol Puma’s party pieces is its ‘Megabox’, a huge area of storage that lives underneath the boot floor and which is perfect for stowing wet jackets, soggy trainers or drenched dog leads.
With the Megabox factored in, the traditionally-fuelled Puma boasts 456 litres of luggage space.
Yet, somehow, the Puma Gen-E improves on that by offering an even larger ‘Gigabox’ as well as a front trunk to up the overall luggage space to 566 litres.
That’s plenty, and is actually more than some much bigger SUVs. The Nissan Qashqai, for example, only has around 500 litres of luggage space with the rear seats up.
Driving and performance
All versions of the Ford Puma Gen-E come with power of 168 PS, 290 Nm of torque and the ability to sprint from 0-62 mph in 8.0 seconds flat. That’s more power than the Ford Puma ST and the Gen-E is only slightly slower to 62 mph than its ST sibling.
In truth, thanks to the way electric cars have such linear acceleration, the Gen-E actually feels much quicker on the road than the numbers suggest.
We took the front-wheel drive electric Ford on various circuits at the famous Millbrook Proving Ground test facility in Bedfordshire.
It got up to motorway speeds in no time at all, where it remained smooth, relaxed and carefree. Wind noise was kept at bay, the adaptive cruise worked seamlessly and the driver assistance tech kept the car centred in its lane.
So far so good.
And it was when we took to the hill course that the prowling Puma Gen-E really excelled. It’s a composed little car with excellent levels of grip and, despite our best efforts, the Gen-E refused to get bent out of shape.
The ‘Sport’ drive mode tightens things up a bit but not by enormous amounts.
It’s no performance vehicle, either, but as a daily driver, it’s fun enough to put a smile on your face and it’ll handle the duller tasks with a shrug of its shoulders.
Trim levels
At the time of writing, there are two trims to choose from with a Ford Puma Gen-E lease; Select and Premium.
Entry-level Select models get 17-inch alloys, LED lights, wireless phone charging, cruise control with speed limiter, lane keeping aid, rear view camera and rear parking sensors, and the ‘Gigabox’ underfloor storage.
The Premium Gen-E (the one we were driving) improves on things with larger 18-inch rims, Matrix LED headlights, front door scuff plates with a prowling cat logo, a 12-inch landscape touchscreen, updated B&O sound system, and a power lift tailgate.
The Premium trim does, though, have a slightly lesser range of around 226 miles between charges.
Pricing and rivals
The good news here is that there isn’t a massive amount of difference between the regular Ford Puma and the electric Ford Puma Gen-E.
The petrol Puma starts at £26,580, the electric Gen at £29,995.
In terms of leasing, the entry Ford Puma Gen-E sits at a similar price point to the ST-Line variant of the mild-hybrid Puma.
The Gen-E is cheaper than the £32,995 Kia EV3 and also undercuts the Skoda Elroq, Peugeot E-2008 and Volvo EX30.
From a lot of different angles, then, the Ford Puma Gen-E makes an awful lot of sense as a lease car, particularly if you’ve enjoyed a petrol Puma before and want more of the same but with fuel cost savings chucked in for good measure.
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