Refreshed Ford Explorer aims at millennials
DEARBORN, Michigan — The refreshed 2025 Ford Explorer seeks to attract millennial buyers with more capability, hands-free highway BlueCruise driving and a variant of Ford’s new digital experience, though customers won’t be able to get it as a hybrid.
Younger families — and the largest generation since the Baby Boomers — are demanding more from their vehicles than the occasional road trip, according to Ford Motor Co., wanting to stay connected and kick up the adventure. The new models of the Dearborn automaker’s bestselling SUV, last redesigned for 2020, feature an updated interior, more advanced technology and more standard features to better suit their needs.
Orders for the three-row SUV with options for six or seven passengers opened this month with a starting manufacturer’s suggestion retail price of $41,220 US, including destination and delivery charges. The vehicles will begin arriving at dealerships in the second quarter.
Despite Ford’s efforts to emphasize hybrid powertrains amid slower-than-expected growth in electric vehicle sales, though, the company last year said it was dropping its hybrid option from the Explorer lineup. It’s not counter to the automaker’s ambitions, Ford says, but it’s part of efforts to prioritize hybrids for the Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicles based on the Explorer, which are in demand because of lower operating costs, and vehicles where hybrids have been popular with customers such as the F-150 full-size truck and Maverick small pickup.
“It is clear that our first responders value the hybrid more than at retail, and so that’s why we’re biased towards them,” said Kelley Clark, Explorer’s chief program engineer. “It’s more about simplification of the offering in terms of what customers tend to check the boxes. They weren’t checking the hybrid box on the retail. That’s why we offered so many things standard, trying to make the build process, manufacturing, everything simpler, because that’s the right way to do things as you try to ramp up production on such a high-volume unit.”
The number of vehicle combinations has been reduced by approximately 95% — from hundreds to less than 42 as Ford seeks to improve quality and ease the buying process. The 5,000-pound Class III Trailer Tow Package, for example, now comes standard on all models alongside blind-spot detection, adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, seven drive modes and more. The simplification eliminates about 1,300 parts, reducing sequencing needs and increasing the likelihood of vehicles being built correctly the first time.
The 2025 Explorer is available with the 2.3-litre four-cylinder Ecoboost or the 3-litre Ecoboost V-6 engines, which accounted for a majority of the nearly 187,000 U.S. Explorer sales last year. The more powerful Explorer ST comes standard with the 3-litre Ecoboost engine, which produces 400 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque with standard rear-wheel drive. Four-wheel drive is available.
The Explorer hybrid wasn’t especially fuel-efficient for retail customers, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal e-mobility analyst at market research firm Guidehouse Inc.
“For police use, they spend a lot of time idling. Hybrids make a lot more sense for them,” he said. “For regular road users, there’s some boost in fuel economy, but it wasn’t huge given the cost.”
A lack of a hybrid propulsion system doesn’t make the refreshed Explorer less technologically advanced, though. For the first time, Explorer drivers for the ST-Line, ST and Platinum trims will have access to BlueCruise.
It isn’t available on Active models. ST-Line is expected to be the most popular model followed by Active and then ST, which alone accounts for about 20 per cent of sales.
“At the click of a button, BlueCruise allows you to take your hands off the wheel, your feet off the pedals and manages steering, acceleration and braking, all while keeping you positioned in your lane and a safe distance from the driver in front of you,” BlueCruise general manager Ashley Lambrix said.
“It takes the work out of driving — not fun — and it makes driving less stressful and more enjoyable, whether I’m on a long road trip with my family, whether I’m driving to soccer tournaments on the weekends, which is something we do a lot in my household, or as part of my everyday commute, and this is really what makes it such a perfect complement to the 2025 Explorer.”
Explorer also is the first Ford vehicle to debut the company’s new digital experience. It doesn’t have the panoramic screen or directional pad steering wheel as seen on the Lincoln Nautilus, but a traditional 12.3inch digital cluster.
The Android platform-based system, however, still is five times faster than Sync 4, has the cloud-connected Google Assistant voice activation technology with the option for Amazon’s Alexa Built-in, and features a 13.2-inch infotainment screen with access to an assortment of apps for audio as well as visual media when the vehicle is stationary, including the Fordexclusive Asphalt Nitro 2 racing game.
The new system also supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone projection.
“The SUV market is just saturated,” said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at auto information website iSeeCars.com. “Automakers have to be at the top of their game. The Explorer is a good example: Is it a capable, well-recognized, competitive vehicle? Yeah, but that alone probably is not good enough. It’s got to be cutting-edge and leading the segment. Those systems and those elements are starting to replace formerly important characteristics, for instance, having enough horsepower, good light quality and seat comfort. They can’t wait for a redesign to make it really appealing in the market.”
Designers pushed forward the dashboard to give front-row passengers a more spacious cabin. An integrated tray below the touchscreen houses an available wireless phone charging pad. Otherwise there are USB connections. Ambient lighting is standard or available on upper trims, and Ford says the outdoors inspired new colour schemes and more premium interior options.
On the outside, the Explorer gets a larger grille with a different pattern for each trim, sleeker LED headlamps, a front skid plate and lower, wider air curtains that give the vehicle a lower appearance. A new backpainted roof option is available for ST-Line and above. Wheels come available up to 21 inches, and there’s a new Vapour Blue Metallic paint colour.