AUTOCAR ROAD TEST 5702

Giant of the industry finally wades into the wider EV game

It’s the latest Ford to spawn a namesake

PHOTOGRAPHY STUART PRICE

Welcome to the first real harbinger of modern Ford. The re-imagining of the company as it jerks towards widespread electrification has been swift and, at least in Europe, fairly brutal. The Fiesta, a perennial favourite in the UK, is no longer being built at all, and the final Focus is set to leave the Saarlouis plant in November 2025. These high-volume, low-margin cars will be replaced by crossovers such as the Puma and the subject of this road test: the new Explorer.

So the mainstream, mass-market family Ford now takes the form of a £40,000-plus electric crossover, and one whose core attributes have been defined not in Dunton or Cologne but in Wolfsburg. Underneath, the Explorer sits on Volkswagen’s MEB platform – the tangible result of a technology-sharing deal finalised in 2020 and one that, Ford says, shaved two years off the development time of this latest model. Handy, when you’re scrambling to compete in a crowded, growing segment but have been notably slow off the mark in developing a suitable product.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that the MEB is therefore a transitional tool for Ford. It makes possible the Explorer and its slope-roofed Capri sibling, but will make way for proprietary Blue Oval hardware thereafter. To us this seems a bold strategy, even if in economic terms Ford has little choice but to go down such a path. The appeal of Ford cars has always been in their balance of affordability and likeability, much of the latter deriving from carefully honed dynamics and a quietly satisfying driving experience, no matter the spec or engine size. Now, with a pivotal product that – more so than the larger, far pricier Mustang Mach-E before it – will define Ford’s reputation in the medium term, the core engineering has effectively been outsourced. If the Explorer proves little more than a rebodied VW ID 4, it would be a betrayal of Ford’s back catalogue of brilliant ‘ordinary’ cars. Equally, if it has its own personality and that Ford-typical spirit, it will go down as a savvy move, and an important one.

The Explorer’s gestation hasn’t been easy. It was delayed and reengineered to take advantage of more advanced battery tech. Martin Sander, who led the company throughout its development, then left Ford to join VW just a week before the first test drives. Was it all worth it? Let’s find out.