Ford Explorer Review 2024

Well, there’s no doubt the Ford Explorer has some strong points that make it worth considering, particularly if you love its clean, modern styling. It handles nicely, offers punchy performance, a good electric range, plus it’s well equipped. But all that has to be weighed against its relatively high price. It’s expensive compared with its chief rival, the Renault Scenic. And the Scenic is an exceptionally good all-rounder that’s also more comfortable and more practical than the Explorer.

That’s not all. The Explorer’s list price is so lofty you can also pick up cars in the next size bracket for less or similar money. Those include the Skoda Enyaq as well as other great alternatives, like the Kia EV6 and Tesla Model Y. And the Model Y, don’t forget, has a USP – access to Tesla’s excellent Supercharging network. So sure, the Explorer is worthy of your attention, but we’d stop short of saying it’s a must-have.

We haven’t tried the cheapest 52kWh Standard Range because it isn’t on sale yet. Even so, having tried the 77kWh Extended Range RWD, we reckon that’s going to be the version most people buy.

Why? Because it has the best electric range (374 miles), which competes well with the equivalent Renault Scenic Long Range (379 miles). And if you stick with the cheapest Select trim it keeps the price to a whisker under £46,000 – although that’s still a lot pricier than the equivalent Scenic.

Most obviously the Renault Scenic. It’s an all-electric SUV with similar dimensions on the outside. The Scenic is also available with a great electric range, but, as we’ve said a few times now, like-for-like it’s better value. And not only does it undercut the Explorer on price, it’s a better car overall, too. The other cars you could consider that are similarly sized, all-electric SUVs, include the Kia Niro EV and Skoda Enyaq – and both start at well under £40,000.

If your budget goes further – to around £45,000 – then you should definitely look at cheaper versions of the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Volkswagen ID.4 and Tesla Model Y. If you’re thinking of splashing out nearly £54,000 on a top-spec all-wheel-drive Explorer, hold your horses. Before taking the plunge, have you considered you could be driving something with a premium badge? You absolutely could: the Volvo EX40, which kicks off at circa £53,000.

Apart from sharing a few switches with VWs, you’d struggle to know the Explorer was based on a VW when sitting inside. Just like the exterior, the styling inside is all Ford, and all the better for it to be honest. Where the ID.3 and ID.4 are serviceable but a bit bland, the Explorer looks rather swanky. Admittedly, we’ve only tried the top-spec Premium trim, but it feels light and airy inside – thanks in part to the contrasting grey and black leather trim, with contrasting grey stitching, too.

Generally, the materials look and feel good. This is because the areas that your eye naturally falls to, or that you’re most likely to touch, are finished in a tactile soft finish. There are some harder plastics, most noticeably the top surface of the dashboard and lower sections of the doors – but how often are you actually going to handle those? Not very often, probably, except when you’re doing a bit of cleaning. It feels reasonably well screwed together, too. Give most areas a prod and there’s little or no deflection.

We’d say it’s at least as well made inside as the Renault Scenic, but if you truly prize interior quality, and are happy to pay for it, there are plusher alternatives. Cars such as the Audi Q4 e-tron, BMW iX3 and Volvo EX40 to name a few.

Let’s start with the good bits. We like the quality and clarity of the infotainment screen – the definition is top drawer – and the graphics. They look super smart and, happily, there’s enough processing power to run them effectively. Mostly, when you press an icon you don’t need to wait long for the response. And the screen is truly massive. It’s a 14.6in portrait-orientated screen with a rare trick: you can adjust the angle by up to 30 degrees to make it easier to reach. Not that we found this made a huge difference to the usability, truth be told.

Another positive is the feature count. As standard, all Explorers have in-built connected navigation, voice activation, wireless Apple CarPlay/ Android Auto, 15-watt wireless phone charging and multiple USB-C ports front and rear. If you like your music, the entry-level Select trim has seven speakers and a soundbar to enrich your listening pleasure. If you go for the Premium trim then you get a Bang & Olufsen ten-speaker system, also with a soundbar. Does it sound amazing? Err, no. At least not when we tried listening to music via the DAB radio – the sound was rather one-dimensional and bland.

This moves us onto the negatives with the infotainment system. We mentioned above that Ford’s SYNC Move software is responsive, but the user experience is terrible. Bearing in mind the screen is big enough to give Odeon an inferiority complex, you have to wonder why the icons are so small. And by small, some of them are pinpricks of pixels you can barely see, let alone hope to hit accurately while driving. That includes the main menu button that sits demurely at the very top of the screen.

It’s not just the tiny icons. Some of the menus are quite hard to navigate, and because there’s often no back button, it can be challenging to get back to where you were. The navigation page demonstrates just how discombobulating things can be. As we’ve said, the screen’s huge, so there’s no reason to hide information away. But that’s what Ford’s done. We couldn’t find how to bring up useful info, like the time and distance to our destination. In the end, we had to ask someone from Ford to show us. It is available – just brilliantly, and completely unnecessarily, concealed.

Space up front is plentiful. So much so, it’s highly unlikely you’ll run out of head or legroom unless you’re called Goliath. It’s quite a broad interior, too, so sitting side-by-side with a passenger will leave neither party feeling pinched.

The Explorer’s also very comfortable in the rear. There’s masses of headroom back there and enough legroom – a six-footer to sit behind someone in the front seat who’s of similar stature. It helps that there’s lots of foot space under the front seats as well. The space for the middle rear passenger is slightly more compromised, but you’ll get three adults abreast when needed and there’s a flat floor all the way across. What’s the issue then? Just that there are cars with more rear space if you need it. The Renault Scenic has more rear legroom, as does the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Then there’s the Explorer’s boot. Again, it’s fine. With 470 litres of space it’s perfectly average and will take a couple of reasonably big suitcases or a pushchair. It also has a height-adjustable boot floor, which, if you raise it up, takes away any load lip. But the Scenic’s boot is noticeably bigger at 545 litres, while the Enyaq’s has 585 litres of luggage room. The Model Y has a humongous 971-litre rear trunk – and another 117 litres in its front boot as well. The Explorer doesn’t have a front boot, and no space underneath its main boot compartment for the charging cables, either. They take up space in the main compartment.

If you need to carry long loads you can drop the 60/40 split rear seats, which lie relatively flat. There’s a ski hatch in the middle, so you can accommodate long, thin loads while still being able to carry a couple of rear passengers.

Where the Explorer excels is interior storage space. There are cubbies and trays and deep caverns, in all adding up to 48 litres. That includes a decent sized glovebox and a 17-litre well under the front centre armrest that Ford calls the ‘Megaconsole’.

It’s big enough for a laptop. There are clever touches, too. You can take out the cupholders if you’re not using them and swap them for a tray. And remember we mentioned you can adjust the angle of the infotainment screen? Well, when you slide it up this reveals a hidden cubby for your valuables. When you get out and lock the doors it locks the screen in place to fend off ne'er-do-wells.

The cheapest Ford Explorer is the 52kWh Standard Range RWD – 52kWh denoting the usable battery capacity. It comes with a 170hp motor driving the rear wheels. Ford hasn’t released its official 0-62mph time but expect that to be around nine seconds.

Next up is the 77kWh Extended Range RWD. It also has a single motor driving the rear wheels but producing 286hp. 0-62mph is done in just 6.4 seconds, which is quicker than the quickest Scenic and the entry-level Model Y.

The quickest Explorer is the 79kWh Extended Range AWD. It gets two motors – one driving the front wheel and the other the rear wheels – with a combined power of 340hp. That’s enough to make it rapid off the line: 0-62mph takes just 5.3 seconds.

Top speed is 99mph for the Standard Range and 112mph for the Extended Range versions.

The 52kWh Standard Range Ford Explorer should manage 239 miles on a full charge (that’s still TBC). The equivalent Scenic is the Comfort Range, and with a slightly bigger 60kWh battery that’ll do up to 260 miles.

For the best battery range, you’ll need the 77kWh Extended Range RWD. It’s WLTP figure is 374 miles, which beats the Model Y Long Range by a healthy margin and almost matches the Scenic Long Range’s official 379 miles.

The 79kWh Extended Range AWD has the biggest battery of any Explorer but, with two motors gobbling up electricity, its official range is 329 miles.

A heat pump is optional and worth considering. It’ll help maintain the battery’s range in extreme temperatures.

As you’d expect from an electric car, the Ford Explorer’s eerily quiet – there’s barley any hum from the electric motor during everyday driving.

Even at 70mph wind and road noise are subdued and you only hear the suspension working away on really bumpy roads.

Refinement is one area where the Ford Explorer beats the Tesla Model Y hands down. 

Euro NCAP hasn’t tested the Ford Explorer – we’ll let you know when it has. But bearing in mind it shares its basic crash structure with the ID.4, which received five stars, it should do well.

It comes with the usual gamut of safety assistance systems, including lane keeping aid, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, cross traffic alert and exit warning – that tells you if a cyclist is passing when you’re about to open the door. Automatic emergency braking is also standard, with its eyes looking for cars, bikes and pedestrians.

The Ford Explorer is too new for us to have any hope of giving you an accurate reliability rating. But we can tell you how Ford does as a brand, and it’s not great. It managed only 23rd out of 29 places in our most recent HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index. Kia, Hyundai and Tesla finished a lot higher up the order, but Ford did better than Renault, which was last but one.

The new Ford Explorer is in insurance groups 28 to 32 with the most affordable models also being the cheapest to insure.

Because the Ford Explorer is all-electric, there’s some great news. You know the dreaded VED (road tax)? You don’t have to pay it – at least until the government changes its mind about keeping EVs exempt.

It may be expensive to buy, but at least the Explorer’s two trims are well kitted out. We’ve already mentioned some of the equipment that comes as standard on the entry-level Select trim, including wireless charging, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 14.6in infotainment screen and 5.0in driver’s display.

It also comes with 19in alloy wheels, LED headlights, LED rear lights, a 12-way electric driver’s seat (with memory recall), heated front seats with massage function, rear privacy glass, selectable driving modes, adaptive cruise control with stop and start function, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry, power-folding door mirrors, puddle lights, front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera.

Premium trim adds bigger, 20in alloys, Matrix LED headlights (these can stay on high beam without dazzling road users in front), a powered tailgate, ambient interior lighting, a panoramic glass roof, and a 10-speaker B&O sound system.