Ford will start deliveries of its Europe-only Explorer EV this year, with the car sharing its … [+]
Ford of Europe GmbH
Ford’s Volkswagen-based Explorer EV shows what Volkswagen should have done with its slow-selling ID.3…
Volkswagen may want to rethink the deal to hand its MEB EV platform to Ford after the US giant’s European arm showed off its new Explorer EV yesterday.
Looking more coherent and composed than any production car Volkswagen has made off the MEB (Modular Electric Platform) base, the Explorer will be engineered and built in Germany.
Ford has not revealed the Explorer EV’s wheelbase, nor its power output, battery size or range. … [+]
Ford of Europe GmbH
A huge risk for Ford, it is the first in a wave of EVs that it hopes will shore up its flagging European sales – and it’s even being built in right-hand drive for UK consumption.
After slashing away at its array of semi-niche models like the B-Max, the C-Max, the S-Max and the Galaxy, Ford of Europe’s dealers have been left with just the Fiesta and Focus hatches and the Kuga and Puma small SUVs, plus a dizzying array of Transit and Ranger commercial vehicles and the Mustang Mach E EV.
And Ford has announced plans to kill off both the Fiesta and Focus nameplates by 2025 in a wholesale move to SUVs and EVs, leaving its dealers a multi-year window with a very narrow product range.
The all-new electric Ford Explorer will boast a lot more luggage space than its Volkswagen ID.3 … [+]
Ford of Europe GmbH
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Claimed to be an amalgam of European engineering and American style, the Explorer will have two rows of seating with five seats, and should be in European showrooms by late this year.
To be built in Cologne, Germany, the Explorer will Explorer will charge from 10% to 80% in 25 minutes.
The SUV will be sold in Explorer and Explorer Premium specification levels, starting from €45,000, in both rear- and all-wheel drive variants.
The new Ford Explorer EV shares its base architecture with the Volkswagen ID.3 EV, as well as the … [+]
Volkswagen AG
Ford is still homologating the Explorer, and does not yet have confirmed range figures for the EV and it hasn’t confirmed its battery capacity or the power outputs, either.
It’s a safe bet that the Explorer will run an MEB standard lithium-ion battery, though, with around the same 77kWh (net) that Volkswagen offers in the ID.3 and ID.4.
The Volkswagen ID.3 hasn’t taken off in Europe, hamstrung by price, range, cheap interior materials … [+]
Volkswagen AG
Volkswagen typically mates this battery with a 150kW/310Nm e-motor to give it a zero to 100km/h time of 8.4 seconds in the ID.4 and 522km of WLTP-cycle range, while the ID.3 reaches 546km on its 77kWh battery and 426km on the 58kWh unit.
The Explorer’s figures shouldn’t be too much different to these, though the fast-charging time is quicker than the ID.4’s.
Ford of Europe has focused on a higher level of interior trim and a larger multimedia screen than … [+]
Ford of Europe GmbH
Inside, the Explorer offers similar digital hard points to its German cousin, but with more style and better-looking design and materials.
There is still a small instrument-cluster screen in front of the driver, but a 15-inch multimedia screen (the ID.3 has a 12-inch unit) in the centre of the dashboard and, unusually, it’s movable.
It is pre-loaded for Apple CarPlay and AndroidAuto, and there is a sound bar-style speaker on the dash.
Ford claims the Explorer will have 470 litres of luggage capacity – far more than the 385 litres Volkswagen offers in the ID.3.
