2020 Ford Explorer HybridFord The 2020 Ford Explorer is an attractive beast, big on North American muscularity and pronounced haunches. Effete is not a word that comes to mind when you climb and, considering its step-up height, you really do have to climb into its vastness. After the initial size-shock, we took a closer look and these were the five observations that stood out the most.These big SUVs are becoming more minivan-likeThough Ford claims the 2020 Explorer is quite off-road worthy and I have no reason to doubt them it does look and feel like a butched-up family hauler. No, theres no sliding door or hideaway seats, but this latest Explorer feels more like an old Chevy Suburban the ultimate, well, soccer-mom SUV than the traipsing-over-hill-and-dale Explorers of old. Thats not so much a criticism as an observation, made all the more obvious to someone who spent virtually no time in the last generation Ford and can only judge the new version against Explorers long past. Ford tuned the Hybrid for torqueThe very first thing I noticed apparent before I had driven even a kilometre is that the Explorer Hybrid has excellent low-end punch. It might even have a little too much, other journalists complaining of overly aggressive throttle tip-in right off idle.I had no such plaints, just praise for the way the electrified V6 jumps off the line. Oh, all that promise peters off once youre past 60 km/h or so the gas portion of the Explorer Hybrid is but a 3.3-litre V6 and a non-turbocharged one, at that but one cant help be impressed with the its initial verve, especially considering that it boasts 318 horsepower. 2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid Ford Electric-only range is minisculeThe Hybrid features a 1.5 kWh lithium-ion battery (mounted unobtrusively under the second row of seats) large compared with small subcompact runabouts, but not a huge reserve considering its weight (2,254 kilograms). Feeding the smallish 44-horsepower electric motor sandwiched in between the engines crankshaft and the 10-speed automatic’s torque convertor it doesnt allow for much electric-only range. Oh, I managed about five kilometres of gas-free driving at one point, but I was treating the throttle like a first-time dad changing his first diaper; any sudden movement might end up in an unwanted squirting of, well, you know what I mean. Driven more typically, I never really got any EV-ish motoring, though as mentioned previously, that silent mode was replaced with a certain bullishness off the line. Ford engineers have confirmed that they tuned the Hybrid more for performance and towing capacity 2,268 kilos and the price is a reliance on internal combustion. 2020 Ford Explorer Limited Hybrid Jil McIntosh Fuel economy is no great shakes, eitherAnother price for the emphasis on performance is fuel economy only marginally superior to that of its more pedestrian siblings. Officially, Transport Canada rates the Explorer Hybrid at 9.6 L/100 kilometres. That is only, say the critics, slightly better than the base Limited version, whose 2.3-litre turbo-four ekes out 10.3 overall. That may be true, but the Hybrid is also more energetic than the little blown four and any time you can get more urge and better economy, no matter how minimal, is a good day.That said, Fords primary competition for its new Hybrid will be Toyota’s electrified Highlander, which until this year, was similarly V6-powered. However, for 2020, Toyota decided to mate is Hybrid Synergy Drive to a 2.5-litre Atkinson-cycle four and it now boasts 240 horsepower. That said, its overall fuel economy is vastly superior to the Explorers with a rating of 6.9 L/100 km overall. Even with hybrids, it seems, there is no free lunch. 2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid Ford The drive, on the other hand, is exemplaryThe one thing the new Explorer Hybrid does have down pat, however, is comportment. The gas/electric engine combo, as I mentioned, is exemplary. Noise, vibration and harshness are well contained, power more than adequate, and I suspect, with a little more tweaking in future models, the fuel economy will improve. Combined with a smooth-shifting 10-speed automatic, its a sweet-driving powertrain.The only thing that could make it better is if Ford combined that 44-horsepower electric motor with its 2.7-litre EcoBoost V6, rather than this 3.3L naturally aspirated version, for more torque and (probably) better fuel economy. Im sure Ford has all manner of reasons be they price-based or specific technical issues but, wow, would that be a
Origin: 5 things I learned driving Ford’s new 2020 Explorer Hybrid