Ford has confirmed that the company has pushed back production and delivery on the all-electric version of the Explorer until at least mid-2024.
According to Ford, the delay comes as the company wants to meet the incoming technical standard for EVs, or UN Regulation 100.3. The new regulation requires new safety tests on the batteries of electric vehicles (EVs) before they take to the road.
The Explorer had a lot of hype and was going to be the first EV made by Ford in Europe. Ford ended production of its popular Fiesta in its Cologne, Germany factory to make room for the Explorer in July 2023. The changeover from Fiesta to Explorer production was supposed to happen over the summer shutdown of the facility.
However, this delay makes it unclear when the Cologne plant will be back up and running. Workers of the plant were informed Friday of the decision to delay, but there is no word on if jobs at the facility will be at risk.
In a statement, Ford noted:
We are excited to bring the electric Explorer to our customers in Europe, the first electric passenger vehicle produced in our new Ford Cologne Electric Vehicle Center… the new Explorer will now be delivered to customers in the summer of 2024.
The new Explorer was announced in March and is the second EV by Ford to be built on Volkswagen’s MEB platform.
