The Electric Explorer’s Nightmare Launch Shows Everything Ford Gets Right and Wrong About EVsNEWS | 23 December 2024Then, in August, just when Ford Europe thought the birth of its pair of EU EVs couldn't hit any more snags, Ford announced it is stepping back from electric vehicles, with CEO Jim Farley saying that, for now, hybrids are the future for the company. Mere weeks before this, Farley proclaimed he'd been driving a Xiaomi EV in the US for six months and had been so impressed he didn’t want to give it back.
Finally, in November came the job cuts—4,000 in total in Europe—with Ford citing slowing electric sales and increased competition from China EV makers.
I'm not sure where all this leaves Ford Europe's electric ambitions. Last month, a Ford announcement stated: “Due to the weak economic situation and lower-than-expected demand for electric cars, we are further adjusting the production program for the new Explorer and Capri. This will result in additional short-time working days at our Cologne plant in the first quarter of 2025.” But later in the announcement, Ford added that it would “offer … customers a range of ICE, hybrid, and fully electric vehicles” going forward.
What I am certain of is that the teams I met at Ford Europe were passionate about pushing toward full EV and had genuinely good ideas—but also were likely unable to avoid some bad ones. A critical look at the Explorer explains this properly.
That technology-sharing deal with VW turns out to be both a blessing and a curse. It means the Explorer has the same underpinnings as some of its rivals: the Volkswagen ID.4, Skoda Enyaq, and Audi Q4 e-tron. But cleverly drawing heavily on Ford’s American heritage, the Explorer has an angular, bold front end to go with its SUV proportions. It's boxy in a good way. Rugged looking. Despite being on same platform, at less than 4.5 meters long, it's 10 centimeters shorter than an ID.4, which is odd, and shows that some compromises were made for this design over the VW.
The wheel design even gives the car 12 miles more range, which is thumpingly big anyway for the segment at a claimed max range of 374 miles on a full charge. Ford wanted this EV to “lead in its class” in this respect, so much so part of the delay in production was to ensure the Explorer got a better battery, one not just for that large range but that could also fast charge from 10 to 80 percent in 28 minutes.Author: Boone Ashworth. Jeremy White. Alistair Charlton. Aarian Marshall. Ben Oliver. Carlton Reid. Simon Lucas. Alex Christian. James Morris. Chris Hall. Source
