2024 (74) Ford Explorer 210kW Premium 77kWh 5dr Auto

Ford's all-electric Explorer mid-sized SUV reflects the urgency of Ford's need to get into the mainstream EV market. Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Review

This electric Ford Explorer wasn't the brand's first EV, but it was the company's first really significant step into this market. A mid-sized SUV that runs on a Volkswagen chassis and powertrain, but in every other way has been developed to look, feel and drive as a European Ford should. It's impossible to over-state the significance here: for its maker, this car just has to work.

Background

Most car companies are changing simply because they've started making EVs. For Ford, the difference goes a bit deeper than that. Tired of years of losses (£1.6 billion in 2022), the brand's board must have considered following General Motors in pulling out of Europe completely. Instead, they've turned the model range on its head, dispensed with 380,000 staff, closed a key factory (Saarlouis in Germany) and signed off eventual death warrants for Ford's two most recognisable model nameplates, Focus and Fiesta. In place of the Fiesta, at the company's German Cologne plant will be made this car, the Explorer. You might vaguely know the Explorer name because it designates a big SUV hugely successful in the US, marketed briefly in the UK between 1997 and 2001 and lately sold in small numbers (as a Plug-in Hybrid) in Europe. This latest mid-sized Explorer is a slightly smaller SUV than that and of course it's all-electric, sharing its battery, MEB platform and basic architecture with the Volkswagen ID.4 as part of an agreement with Volkswagen which Ford reciprocates for by building VW-badged commercial vehicles in South Africa and Turkey. But you want to know about the Explorer, created as one of the company's four new 'product banner' sales categories, this one categorising SUVs and known as 'Adventurous Spirit'. The Blue Oval maker insists that, despite the shared underpinnings, this is a proper Ford in the way it drives, the way it looks and its cabin feel. Is it? Let's see.

Engines and Tech Spec

The Blue Oval brand promises that this Explorer will 'feel like a Ford' to drive. Which you might think a bit of a stretch given its Volkswagen MEB chassis and battery pack combination. In any case, given the company's new-found desire to trade on its American roots and the forgettable handling characteristics of most of its previous US market mainstream models, you might question whether a 'Ford-like' feel is even desirable here anyway. Undaunted, engineering manager Thomas Riehm promises that the car's steering, brakes, dampers, springs and anti-roll bars are specifically tuned for 'Ford-ness' and the Explorer gets its own bespoke Continental tyres. But we're back to 'VW ID.4'-ness when it comes to the basic engineering detail here: rear wheel drive and a choice of two mainstream variants. Either a base 52kWh version with a 170PS motor and up to 233 miles of combined cycle range. Or a rear-driven 77kWh derivative with a 286PS motor and up to 374 miles of range. As with the ID.4, there's also a dual motor AWD model at the top of the line-up, though here it produces 340PS (significantly more than a comparable ID.4 GTX) - and has a slightly larger 79kWh battery too, offering up to 329 miles of range. It's the AWD variant we tried, where (with 679Nm of torque to draw upon) 62mph is dispatched in 5.3s (quicker than a Focus ST hot hatch) en route to the 112mph top speed that all bigger-battery Explorers share. Even the ordinary 286PS rear-driven model has 545Nm of pulling power and manages the 62mph benchmark in 6.4s, so you won't really feel this car's 2.1-tonne kerb weight unless you opt for the base 52kWh 170PS version, which struggles a bit more with it, needing 8.7s to get to 62mph en route to 99mph. Earlier models in Explorer history were all SUVs, regularly used for towing. This electric Explorer won't be, though it can tug along a tonne - or 1,200kgs in the case of this dual motor version. And what of all that 'Ford-ness' we were promised? Well you'd get slightly more of that if you were to opt for this car's almost identically-engineered EV showroom stablemate, the Blue Oval brand's new-era Capri. Ford thinks Explorer customers won't be so worried about driver engagement, which is just as well because that's in relatively short supply here. Having said that, thanks to relatively feelsome steering, it's a more involving thing to drive than an equivalent Volkswagen ID.4 (which was clearly the objective here). The ride isn't quite as smooth mind you.

Design and Build

Ford describes this Explorer as 'adventure-ready' and 'steeped in American roots'. We're not quite sure what that means because it's not really much of an SUV and its VW-engineered 'roots' are firmly from Europe rather than the US. 'Bold and confident' might be a better description; it's certainly more of a style statement than the equivalent Volkswagen ID.4. Curiously, considering the near-identical engineering here, that ID.4 is a considerably bigger car. Given the quite prodigious size of Explorer models of the past, you instinctively expect this new-era electric design to be quite a substantially-proportioned thing. Actually, at a relatively compact 4,460mm in length, it's 124mm shorter than the equivalent Volkswagen - and a full 184mm shorter than the equally closely-related CUPRA Tavascan. The most notable profile flourish is the blind-like 'sail'-shaped C-pillar graphic, supposed to emphasise the cab-rearward stance. Ages was spent deciding whether to retain Ford's usual trapezoidal front grille; in the end, Jordan Demkiw's design team decided not, creating a stocky, aggressive front stance with blade-like LED headlamps that works just fine without it. Inside, the Explorer is equally distinctive, the two-tone dashboard's highlight being a 14.6-inch portrait central screen adjustable in 20 stages by up to 30-degrees. In behind it is a stowage space (Ford calls it the 'My Private Locker'). Plus you can stash stuff beneath the centre console, or in a 17-litre 'Mega Console' cubby between the seats big enough for a 15-inch laptop. Carry-over parts from the ID.4 include the rotating gear selector, the small 5.3-inch digital instrument cluster and (unfortunately) the lower centre stack volume slider and the lack of rear window switches. A more Ford-like touch is the standard-fit 3D sound bar on top of the dashboard. Quality is a big step forward from any Ford we've ever seen in this part of the market before. And rear seat space is better than any other previous mid-sized Ford model too. But you pay for that with restricted boot capacity - 470-litres for the rear-driven variants and just 445-litres for the AWD model. Still, there's a removable boot floor and a seats-folded total of up to 1,460-litres.

Market and Model

You can expect prices to start at around £40,000 for the base rear-driven standard range 55kWh model, but expect the asking figures to rise pretty steeply from there. It's around £45,000 for a version with the 77kWh battery you'll probably want and prices rise to just under £55,000 at the top of the range. There are two mainstream trim levels - 'Select' and 'Premium' and if you choose 'Select', you'll need an extra £6,000 if you want the larger 82kWh Extended Range battery. With top 'Premium'-spec (which only comes with the larger battery), an extra £4,000 gets you the twin motor AWD version. All models feature niceties like heated massaging seats, a heated steering wheel, keyless entry and dual zone climate control, plus Ford will also throw in its dash-mounted soundbar and a 5-inch digital instrument cluster showing speed, range and navigational instructions. Media tech is taken care of across the line-up by a 15-inch central infotainment screen with 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto' smartphone-mirroring. The brand says that its 'Apple CarPlay' display is the biggest on the market, which will make it easier to use on the move. Plus this central monitor runs Ford's own 'SYNCMove' software that allows for full-screen mapping. If you can stretch to 'Premium' spec, you'll get Sensico artificial leather upholstery and ambient lighting. Other 'Premium'-spec niceties include an automatic tailgate, a full-length panoramic roof and a 10-colour ambient lighting system that reacts to the various drive modes. However you specify your Explorer, you should find impressive cabin quality: Ford has designed every touch point with soft-touch materials, including the door tops, which have a consistent 3mm of give for a classier feel.

Cost of Ownership

Charging speeds are OK but nowhere near class-leading - at 145kW for the 52kWh model, 135kW for the 77kWh versions and up to 185kW for the top 79kWh Dual Motor AWD variant. At a DC public charger, filling the 52kWh battery from 10 to 80% takes 25 minutes - it's 28 minutes for the 77kWh versions and 26 minutes for the 79kWh AWD model. Whatever Explorer you choose, AC charging from home using a 7.4kW wallbox requires around 12 hours for a full charge - or 7 hours 45 minutes for a more common 10-80% top-up charge. If you've a three-phase supply and an 11kW wallbox, a full charge on all Explorers will need 8 hours 15 minutes. Whatever your choice of variant, the car's connected navigation system will identify up-to-date public charging locations during trips and particularly recommend chargers in the Blue Oval Charge Network - which had over 500,000 chargers at the time of this test. An Explorer owner will be able to access any of these and pay for their power from a single account. What else? Well you probably know that you've now to pay road tax and the London Congestion charge with an EV. And that Benefit-in-Kind taxation is now rated (now being the time of this test in Spring 2035) at 3%. Insurance groups start at group 19 for the base 52kWh with 'Select;' trim and rise up to group 32 for this top 79kWh AWD 'Premium' model. You might worry about depreciation, particularly as this car's showroom stablemate the Mustang Mach-E loses value so fast - in the 40% range after three years / 36,000 miles. This Explorer does much better than that, rated in the 50-54% bracket over the same period, a percentage point behind the Capri. There are two year / unlimited mileage service intervals. And the mediocre three year / 60,000 mile warranty is built upon by the usual EV eight year / 100,000 mile battery warranty.

Summary

What Ford really needed at this point, particularly with the demise of the Fiesta and Focus nameplates, was a small, affordable EV to fill that gap going forward. This Explorer isn't quite that, but it's the next best thing and will make more profit for Ford than those old combustion models ever did. Partly because of all the parts it borrows from Volkswagen. But these aren't things you can see or feel and when it comes to these, the Explorer it really is its own car - and a sea change for Ford in so many ways. Previous conventional models from the brand were often bought because of things you wouldn't immediately appreciate, like ride and handling. Few folk in living memory have chosen a Ford because it had a nicer cabin or better media technology than its rivals - but that might be the case here. And overall? Well the reliance on Volkswagen engineering for the end result marks the reversal of market fortune that has taken place here; 25 years ago, VW's Golf needed head-hunted Ford engineers to improve its suspension technology. But the Blue Oval brand is where it is and this reborn Explorer model line does indeed represent a huge opportunity for a fundamental repositioning of this American marque. And not before time.