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Continuing our ongoing electric car series, this time we get behind the wheel of Ford's Explorer, an SUV model that combines fast-charging, advanced technology, and superior comfort.
"This is the brand new Ford Explorer, and you might be thinking, didn't they just launch another compact SUV EV in the form of the new Capri? And yes, that is exactly what they did, and these two cars are pretty similar size-wise, width-wise, boot-wise, the interior is the same, and the pricing is somewhat similar as well. I'm sure Ford's PR department will come up with loads of differences, but truth of the matter is that they're pretty similar. That's pretty strange, but even stranger is that I found myself, perhaps due to this more outlandish design, to be more attracted to the new Explorer, and by the time this video rolls to its conclusion, I will also, I think, be recommending this car, because it just proves that the soul, the characteristics, those are something that you're going to have to dig a little bit deeper for in order to uncover, and so I find myself strangely bewitched with the Explorer, and it might even have to do with the ski box attachments on there, which makes it seem more rugged somehow. Regardless, welcome to EV Hour. I'm being facetious, of course, but let's go over the headlines anyway."
"This particular premium trim has 286 horsepower and a WLTP of 572 kilometers.
It'll charge between 10 and 80 percent in 26 minutes. It's compact, more compact than you'd think, and to my eye, a whole lot prettier than the Capri, particularly in this arctic blue.
If I just reinserted the same interior video bit that I did in the Ford Capri a couple of weeks ago, you would call me lazy, so I'm not going to do that, but you can pretty much do that because the interior is, by and large, in broad strokes, the same, making two already similar cars even more similar. Actually, the interior is the most profound way in which these cars share the same platform and the same materials and the same design elements. In fact, over here, there is one little bit of text that says Explorer, which indicates that this is a special car, that this is not, in fact, the Capri, but other than that, in this particular version, the same Bang & Olufsen cool speaker system, the same pretty awesome wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto-enabled screen, which can be adjusted here, which is absolutely lovely."
"There is the same little cubby hole here for wirelessly charging your phone as you go, and the same nice little command screen here, and in this particular version over here, which you can't see right now, is a head-up display that works rather well.
What does not work well is this pseudo-touch display stuff that is going on. I find them to be less than responsive and less than reliable. Luckily, all of this is just basic touch, and then it's this little panel down here, which activates some volume, parking camera functionalities, and then this on the steering wheel here. I just really don't like it, but apart from that, nothing is wrong with the interior of either the Explorer or the Capri."
"It all works just fine. It's all functional, and it's pretty enough. I just think that, particularly in the sense of these pseudo-touch buttons here and on the face of it, well, Ford's own OS, which you obviously don't have to look at because you can just use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, which looks a lot better than this, but I don't know about you, but this looks like it has come out of a GPS system from like 10 years ago, with its oversized icons and buttons and weird color science. It just doesn't look appealing or sleek, but apart from that, a regular pass here. It doesn't commit any big user interface or usability sins here."
"It's good. It's just not very exciting. It'll set you back, in this trim at least, about the same as a Tesla Model Y, a Hyundai IONIQ 6, and an XPeng G6. It's actually wild how crowded this particular section of the market has become, but the Ford does hold its own range wise, power wise, and value wise, albeit with some potential problems with the lack of proper identifying characteristics. As I'm going to say a couple of times in this video, the EV revolution has proven to be a pretty great equalizer on a number of fronts because, well, this circular object in front of me here is electric and therefore pretty immediate and responsive, and that counts for the brakes and the throttle as well. It's a nice place to sit with good seats, and I feel comfortable and satisfied sitting here in the cabin driving it, and the elevated driving position also means that I could take this for long journeys and feel like I have a good viewpoint from which to view obstacles, the road, other drivers, etc. It is a pretty nice grand tour overall, as is the new Capri. The one thing, though, that is also going to be a recurring theme is the lack of sort of a distinctive feel in here. There is no weird centerpiece feature or weird design element which draws your attention as you drive. It is, well, pretty even-steven, and for a lot of people I suppose that's okay. I'm just missing a little bit of pizzazz in here."
"I really do think that the exterior look of the car is its saving grace. I don't know if it's the cross-going ski box beams that they fitted to this particular test version and in this arctic colorway, but I mean, from all angles, it oozes off-road ability and capability, and people that I have talked to and shown this car to say that it's a bit out there, but it potentially, in a good way, it doesn't look like other cars on the road, and that really does count for something."
"I think it's great-looking, to be honest, and if I were going out every day to this car, I'd be happy to do that. They really nailed the design on this one. They truly did.
In a lot of ways, I find myself at the same conclusion that I've done with a number of reviews that I've done here on EV Hour, which is to say that it seems that the EV transition has become the great equalizer in a lot of things in car development. Because there is no central engine to give a given car really profound characteristics and personality, the good thing is that it's very hard to go directly wrong, to buy an EV, and particularly in this price bracket, which is just terrible in every way, which is unrecommendable, but at the other hand, you also really have to feel out whether or not a car speaks to you."
"So, at the risk of repeating myself from the Capri review that I did not too long ago, well, I wouldn't fault anyone for walking right up to a Ford dealership and buying the new Explorer. Its range is good, its driving characteristics are great, I think the exterior is lovely, and I think the interior is a little bit boring, but on the whole, on balance, a good car, great car even depending on who you are. Would I pick it? Well, no, because I don't really think this car speaks to me personally, but that's not because there's anything profoundly wrong with it. That is the really difficult to explain conclusion that is going to be the conclusion in a number of these reviews, because that's just the way the nature of current car development. Is this inherently better than a Hyundai Ioniq 5 or 6 or the X-Peng G6 or the Tesla Model Y? Well, maybe in some ways, maybe not in others, but what I can say is that it is good, and that is the most important thing. The new Explorer is good. See you on the next one."
