Electric SUV is the first Ford to emerge from a new partnership with Volkswagen On sale Late 2023 Price from £40,000 (est)
Darren Moss darren.moss@haymarket.com
IN THE ENTERTAINMENT world, for UK-based talent,‘breaking into the US’ is a big deal, because that country is one of the largest and most affluent on Earth. If you can make it there, they say, you can make it anywhere.
Of course, the opposite can also be true. Take the new Ford Explorer, for example; in the US and mainland Europe, it’s been a household name for years, representing one of the brand’s larger SUV offerings. But its first attempt to gain a foothold in the UK – back in 1996 – wasn’t exactly a flying success.
This brand new Explorer, though, has a much better chance. Underneath, it shares much with the Volkswagen ID 4 electric SUV, the Explorer being born from a technical collaboration between the two brands. Don’t think this will be a ‘same script, different cast’ exercise, though, like so many US versions of UK TV shows; the new Explorer has a look all of its own, with a much boxier shape than the ID 4.
Explorer buyers will have a choice of three power outputs.The entry-level model has 168bhp from a single electric motor that drives the rear wheels, and the mid-range option boosts power to 282bhp.The 335bhp range-topping version, meanwhile, adds a second motor that powers the front wheels, giving the Explorer four-wheel drive – and more power than any version of the ID 4.
The Explorer is expected to use the same 52kWh and 77kWh batteries that are offered on the ID 4, providing an official range of up to 310 miles, depending on which version of the Explorer you go for. Some existing electric SUVs – including the ID 4 and Kia EV6 – can go a little farther on a charge.The Explorer should be able to match the ID 4’s maximum charging rate of 125kW, so a 10-80% top-up could take as little as 35 minutes if you use a suitably fast charger. Also, Explorer buyers will benefit from a discounted tariff when using the ultra-fast Ionity charging network.
The driver gets a 5.0in digital instrument cluster, but the dashboard’s centrepiece is a 15.0in, portrait-orientated touchscreen infotainment system that can be moved up and down to suit driver preference. Haptic feedback is provided for adjustments such as volume (in response to customer feedback, Ford says), but we’d rather have physical buttons and dials, which are easier to
