Ford has unveiled its first 100% electric compact SUV, the Ford Explorer EV. While it takes its name from its American big brother, the Explorer EV is designed, built and sold in Europe. It was developed through a partnership between Ford and the VW Group.
In North America, the Ford Explorer has a 30-year career and is the favourite of a faithful family clientele eager to explore the great outdoors. The model has been marketed as a plug-in hybrid in Europe since the early 2020s.
At the end of the summer, it will leave the Old Continent to make way for the Explorer EV. The two additional letters are significant because the newcomer will be exclusively electric.
In partnership with Volkswagen
The technical basis of the new Ford Explorer EV is well known. It is the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, which is used for the ID family, the Audi Q4 e-tron and the Skoda Enyaq. Ford has signed an industrial agreement with VW that covers this sharing, but also the Ford Ranger pick-up, which becomes the Amarok for VW.
If the overall proportions of the Explorer EV, the large wheels and the very short front overhang can indeed suggest the ID.4, there is nothing visually reminiscent of the VW electric SUV. In fact, VW delivers the platforms to Ford in its Cologne factory, where the American manufacturer assembles its Explorer according to its specifications.
That’s why the Explorer EV’s look smells of the USA and has a square and strong line.
Ford/GIMS/JM
