Ford Explorer review

There’s three powertrains and three trims. It opens with the standard range RWD Style that squeaks in just under £38k. One above that is the extended range RWD Select, at £45,885 or about £550 a month on finance.

If you want twin motors (AWD) the top Premium spec (which gets the B&O stereo, matrix headlamps, a glass roof, 21in wheels, fake leather seats and power tailgate) is obligatory here, taking you to £53,985.

Options include a heat pump (should be standard, at least on Premium) and a towbar. Yes, this EV can tow. A further pack adds a HUD, self-parking and 360 camera.

What about running costs?

On an average UK tariff, a full top-up of the Explorer’s battery is going to cost you about £20 on a home supply, but you could slash that if you get one of those special deals to charge cheaply overnight. Obviously, using a public charging point - especially an ultra fast one - is likely to cost a lot more.

Our first drive included a fair bit of European 85mph motorway cruising and mountains as well as more economical suburban-type roads, with the 265-mile range (3.4mi/kWh) matching what we saw back home, which took in a couple of trips round the M25 at the UK 70 limit and a few 50mph roadworks.

All versions have an 11kW on-board charger, so it's only seven hours flat-to-full on a three-phase charge point, or 10-and-a-half on the more common single-phase 7.4kW point.

On DC, the 77kWh pack peaks at 135kW, and the 79kWh pack peaks at 185kW, so both are under half an hour 10-80 per cent. The battery gets itself to the right temperature for fast-charging if the charger is in the navigation route, or you can hit a button to do it manually.

Some charge network subs are included for the first year. Five years' servicing is free, except for consumables. Warranty is three years/60k miles but you can extend that to five/100k if you pay.

What's the best spec?

We wouldn’t look past the Select trim with the single motor RWD powertrain, which brings more than enough performance and the maximum available range.