2025 Ford Explorer First Look: 3-Row Gets New Tech and Luxury

With more than 8 million sold and 3.5 million still on the road, the Ford Explorer may have earned itself icon status, but the sixth-gen Explorer—new for 2020 and hailed for its savvy packaging and strong value—finished dead last in a recent Big Test. It also currently ranks 10th in the crowded three-row-SUV class in the MotorTrend Ultimate Car Rankings, owing largely to out-of-date technology and some drivability issues. The time is clearly ripe for a redemptive midcycle refresh, in the form of this summer's 2025 Ford Explorer.

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Ford Digital Experience Debuts

Sync is being phased out, long live FDE! Ford is openly courting millennials with this rethink of the Explorer, and what these folks want more than anything else is for their vehicle to offer seamless integration into their digital landscape. Fun Ford-quoted fact: The average household now has 16 connected devices, and Ford aims to make Explorer one of them—via whatever the customer's preferred connection is.

Amazonians can ask Alexa to do their bidding, Apple-heads can summon Siri, and of course "Hey Google" will get any vocal command handled with equivalent ease. In all cases, Apple Maps or Google Maps can also be displayed on the instrument cluster as well as the center screen.

Relative to the outgoing Explorer's Sync setup, onboard system computing power has quintupled, while graphics processing power has quattuordecupled (that's 14 times)! Gamers will appreciate this when they pair their Bluetooth gaming controllers with the car, allowing them to play Asphalt Nitro 2 or other games available at the Google Play store (only when parked). There's a more powerful Vivaldi web browser, which can be accessed more easily by pairing a Bluetooth keyboard—again, when parked. Clearly, leaving this vehicle switched off in the garage is going to strike some owners as a waste of 5G connectivity (for up to 10 mobile devices) and high-res screens.

Speaking of which, every Explorer will get the full Ford Digital Experience rendered on both a 13.2-inch landscape-oriented infotainment screen and a 12.3-inch digital cluster screen—no mechanical dials or puny screens even for rental versions. Expect FDE to propagate throughout the lineup as models are refreshed.

BlueCruise 1.2 semi-autonomous hands-free driving also comes to the 2025 Explorer for the first time, eager to assist with lane changes and to generally alleviate drivers of the drudgery of long-distance hauls. ST-Line, ST, and Platinum models will come with the option of a 90-day free trial or a time-of-purchase discounted annual subscription rate of $700/year. After that, rates are $75/month or $800/year.

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Freshened Front and Rear

Design changes are modest outside: There are four new grilles, one for each variant in the simplified model lineup. Active consolidates the previous base and XLT, ST-Line brings all the ST style without the big engine and incorporates some Limited features, ST is the performance leader, and Platinum is the luxury flagship, which absorbs some King Ranch features. (The Timberline trim will rejoin the lineup as the trail tackler some months after the main launch.)

This model-line consolidation shrinks the number of major buildable combinations from "hundreds to around 40," reducing assembly-logistics costs and vehicle-ordering heartburn. There are new all-LED lamps and redesigned fascias at both ends, plus four new wheel designs in 18-, 20-, and 21-inch sizes; plus one new color and the option of a black roof; and several new interior ambiances.

Swankier Inner Space

All four trim levels get a wrap-and-sew look on the dash, door panels, and console, though the materials selection improves the more you spend. We also love the new fabric-covered "sound bar" that traverses the dash and houses tweeters relocated from the A-pillars. There are some new colorways (the coolest of which is a deep maroon/purple called Mojave Dusk, available on Platinum models) and seating materials—like ActiveX with Miko suede inserts.

All models also get a tray beneath the infotainment screen that can charge one large phone and park another one next to it. A choice of two captain's chairs or a three-across bench is available in the middle row on all but the ST (which only gets buckets), while a power-folding third row is optional or standard across the top of the line. There are now eight USB charging points scattered throughout the vehicle, including one legacy A-type jack in front.

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Minimal Mechanical Mods

The biggest changes to the powertrain lineup are deletion of both the lower-powered 3.0-liter and the hybrid offering (except via Ford Pro for police or other government/fleet operations). That leaves a simple choice of a 300-hp 2.3-liter EcoBoost four and a 400-hp 3.0-liter EcoBoost V-6, both hitched to a 10-speed automatic that has purportedly been reprogrammed, applying lessons learned across numerous product lines aimed at improving drivability. And because an outsize number of Explorer customers are said to enjoy camping and fishing, a Class-III hitch good for 5,000 pounds now is standard. Also standard: six driving modes on RWD models, seven on the AWD variants.

Price and On-Sale Date

The 2025 Ford Explorer can be ordered now, with dealer deliveries anticipated for early summer of 2024. Pricing will start at $41,220 for the base Active trim—that's up $2,765 from the outgoing base model, which is more than accounted for with additional standard equipment like the bigger screens, heated front seats, power liftgate, and adaptive cruise control.

We're eager to learn how far this tech-forward refresh will elevate the perennial bestselling Ford Explorer in our MotorTrend Ultimate Car Rankings' ultra-competitive three-row-SUV class.