This is the first "German" electric Ford - which is actually a Volkswagen

The car looks massive and large, the manufacturer Ford speaks of an "attractive US design". In fact, the all-electric Ford Explorer should not only advance the company in Europe visually. The car is also intended to create a kind of restart, combined with Ford Germany's very late step into electromobility.

So far, the manufacturer has had a sensitive gap when it comes to electric cars. Ford builds the rather successful Mustang Mach-e in Mexico and imports it to Europe. In addition, the group was the first of the major US manufacturers to make its F150 pick-up an electric car.

But in the old world, Ford has so far only built cars with internal combustion engines, apart from electric delivery vans. The manufacturer sold 25,400 units of the Mach-e SUV model in Europe last year, almost 5,800 of them in Germany.

Now the Americans are getting help from their big competitor, Volkswagen. Because under the US design is the technology of the Wolfsburg company in the electric Explorer. The car is based on Volkswagen's "modular electric drive kit" (MEB). So it drives with the same motor and the same battery as, for example, the ID.3 or ID.4.

The background is an older contract with the VW Group, from which Ford obtains the finished substructure for the vehicles, known in the jargon as a "skateboard". Last year, the manufacturers extended this agreement again, and in addition to the Explorer, there will be another MEB-based Ford electric model next year. The cooperation with Ford will be expanded, said VW boss Oliver Blume recently at his group's annual press conference.

With the additional model, “we will double the MEB volume to 1.6 million units over a period of six years”. Last year there was talk of 1.2 million planned cars. The deal is worthwhile for VW because the larger the number of units, the costs per vehicle are significantly reduced. Thanks to the deal, Ford can quickly offer large quantities of its own electric cars in Europe.

However, the Americans are not looking to get started in the cheap mass market of small cars, but where electric competitors such as Tesla's Model Y and the VW ID.4 are already. According to the company, the Explorer should cost “less than 45,000 euros”. The model will be manufactured in Cologne, where it will replace the production of the Fiesta after the summer holidays. The market launch should take place this year.

Ford is investing two billion dollars (1.86 billion euros) in the site, but is also cutting administrative and development jobs. The plant in Saarlouis, where the Focus is built, will not have an electric model as a successor and is scheduled to close in 2025. In the factory in Valencia, on the other hand, Ford cars will be built on their own electric platform, which the developers are working on for the period after the VW cooperation.

When it came to the naming, Ford obviously learned from the mistakes of the competition. Instead of inventing a new title for the car like EQ at Mercedes-Benz or ID at Volkswagen, the manufacturer uses the well-established Explorer brand. Petrol engines with this designation have been available from Ford since 1990, but recently they were hardly sold in Germany. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, not even 400 Explorers were newly registered last year. So the token is “free” and can now be revived electrically.

Inside, nothing reminds of the connection with Volkswagen, where the car is a typical Ford. Instead of the small VW screen, there is a large display in the middle and storage space where the gearshift would be in a petrol engine. The Ford advertisement speaks of the “perfect travel vehicle for families”, the battery of which should be charged from ten to 80 percent within 25 minutes.

The company has not yet provided any information on the range and battery size. You will experience it in practice, because as a promotion Ford is sending the 25-year-old US influencer Lexie Alford ("Lexie Limitless") on a trip around the world in the car. This is intended to commemorate the first car trip around the world by a woman between 1922 and 1927; At that time, the Canadian Aloha Wanderwell drove through 43 countries around the world in a Ford Model T.

Perhaps the planned social media spectacle will give the sales figures a boost. In Germany, Ford came seventh in the brand statistics last year with 131,256 new registrations, behind Skoda and ahead of Seat. With a market share of 1.2 percent, the brand played practically no role in electric cars.

Across Europe, sales of the two mass-produced models Kuga and Puma lagged behind the best models from Kia and Hyundai last year. Overall, the Americans' European business just barely missed the loss threshold - in a year in which the other car manufacturers celebrated record profits.

Now the turning point is to begin with the Explorer. It "prepares the way for a new generation of impressive electric vehicles from Ford," said the head of the electric car division in Europe, Martin Sander, at the premiere. Now customers just have to get involved.

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