Ford Explorer EV hits the market in Europe after battery pack delay
Took a little longer than planned, but Ford says its new EU-market Explorer EV is better for the delay. Ford of Europe borrowed Volkswagen's MEB platform to create a battery-electric SUV by Europeans, for Europeans. Planned to hit the market there in later 2023, the holdup was either caused by changes to the U.N.'s battery certification regulations, as stated by Ford of Europe at the time, or «insufficient countermeasures around fire,» in the words of Ford CEO Jim Farley. Either way, engineers reworked the chassis to fit a different nickel-manganese-cobalt pack. A regional automaker exec said the Explorer EV that just launched «is a better vehicle now than we would have launched half a year ago.»