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By Jonathan Crouch

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

Ten Second Reviewword count: 64

This electric Ford Explorer isn't the brand's first EV, but it's 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 has to work.

Backgroundword count: 248

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 Specword count: 242

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 55kWh version with a 125PS motor and 239 miles of range. Or a rear-driven 82kWk derivative with a 286PS motor and up to 374 miles of range. As with the ID.4, there's a dual motor AWD model using the top 82kWh battery at the top of the line-up, though here it produces 340PS, significantly more than a comparable ID.4 GTX. The dual motor model offers 329 miles of range and can tow 1,200kgs, 200kgs more than the rear-driven 82kWh version. Expect a 5.3 second 0-62mph sprint time for this top variant. It'll be 6.4s for the rear-driven 82kWh version. Avoid the base battery and top speed rises from 99 to 112mph.

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