edselford

Obviously, swinging Brampton plant to build next generation of EV chargers is a bad idea! New styling makes vehicles look 50 years old. What was needed was a Charger hybrid and maybe a Chrysler 300 hybrid but not the parallel hybrid system on the Ram pickup! Is Stalantus loosing its way being managed by the French? edselford

You are thinking! Maybe a Atkinson cycle I6 that is turbocharged and is a hybrid would be the way to go? Make up the power loss with the turbo but utilize the hybrid for unloaded accelerations? edselford

All future vehicle platforms need to be able to have both hybrid and EV versions without reinventing the wheel each time! edselford

Oakville should be retooled to produce a ford version of the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus hybrid. There is a good market for a modern three row Edge, smaller than the Explorer. Only offer it as a hybrid AWD. This will keep customers in fords until the revised Explorer hybrid is ready. Nautalus already built in China on a modified Edge platform. hybrids maintain freedom of movement without restrictions! edselford

Very good discussion on ten speed automatics! Could this group of experts ever see a hybrid eVCT transmission in F150/250350? That is a rear wheel drive transmission with a single planetary, starter/generator and a large traction motor on the rear output shaft. Fords current F250 hybrid solution is very costly design. I am just wondering??? edselford usually, more speeds usually means more ratio spread which helps fuel economy!

So we lost the Limited and the Sport Package on the XLT, and the off road version is missing in action for the start of this minor 2025 revision! New people, new ideas I guess. I was hoping for the new 2.3 with dual fuel system and the smaller bore with a longer stroke but that did not happen either. I had to turn in a 2021 Explorer XLT last December and ended up leasing an existing 2023 Explorer ST-Line . The ST-Line is a significant improvement over the 2021 XLT. Looks like the engineers revised the 2.3 calibration and the ten speed automatic calibration to a point that I have no reason to complain about shift quality or NVH! It would of been nice to have the steering column with upshift/downshift buttons but that was eliminated in my 2023 with the tow package! The 2025 forced you into 21” wheels if you also want bench seats in the second row. That is not a good idea! Edselford

It’s an interesting question being asked by the OEM’s right now. Electric are easier to build but weigh allot more than IC engined vehicles. most people don’t have the luxury of having an EV vehicle and an IC vehicle for long/vacation trips. can you just jump in your EV and take an impromptu trip to Atlanta??? I don’t think so. I would venture a guess that if we knew the total CO2 equation for IC versus EV ,complete life cycle, I just wonder why we are trying to take the trip??? Maybe, hydrogen, ammonia hydrogen or something to combust without the carbonC, it might be smart to Waite until these new technogies can reduce CO2 without putting up with long charge times. Also federal tax credits for a period of time, covers up the real cost of the EV technology! If I were Ford, GM and Stalantus, I would delay the switchover to EV because people are not ready for them Keep the Edge, the Chrysler300 and others . Don’t bet the farm on EV’s edselford

Anyone have latest information on the 2025 Explorer?? I heard that 2024 is a complete carryover except for elimination of the hybrid and may only be a two month production run??? I have to turn in my 2021 Explorer lease next week and would prefer ordering a 2025 not a carryover 2024, if 2025 production starts early next year! Thank You in advance for your help edselford

Very interesting topic. Thank all for the background information. I should of clarified my prior post and said that ATX means front wheel drive automatic transaxle! Note, it looks like the 2024 model year Traverse and Arcadia and the 2025 Enclave will be utilizing an 8 speed ATX not the current 9 speed. I assume GM will follow Ford by taking some parts out of the 9 to get to the new 8 speed ATX! I also wonder if ford turned the 10R80 into a 9R80 if the new 2025 Explorer ST would be any quicker ?? edselford

Don’t over react to the elimination of the 3.3 hybrid Explorer. Like the delay of the 2024 Model Year launch, to 2025 MY, many thing are being revised. If you think about it, a 3.3 V6 Atkinson cycle, turbo hybrid may be one route to gain needed fuel economy. This would make sense if Ford Finds a way to make the Cyclone engines 3.3/3.5 V6’s a “hot” V design, to reduce turbo costs, (two to just one turbo) I am not convinced a 2.3 hybrid could be refined enough for the next Explorer given my experience with my leased 2021MY XLT! edselford

Maybe Ford is responding to the new Chevy Traverse coming out in The spring 2024? The current base 2.3 liter with 300 hp and 310 lbs ft torque would not be competitive! Also, Traverse looks like new good looking SUV and the revised Explorer probably did not go far enough in the mid cycle redesign, on the outside! The Explorer product manager must be pulling out some hair right now. If the new Explorer doesn’t include the “New” 2.3 utilizing 102 mm stroke and a refined transmission/engine calibration, the new vehicle would not be worth taking the trip! Ie delay the launch and get it right the first time out of the box! edselford

Has any governmental agency/ commercial corporation done a complete study of EV vehicle usage on CO2 levels? when I say complete, I mean birth to death analysis for all the energy/emissions, employment levels etc? I ask this question probably a little too late but every time I look at any EV vehicles, I see a very heavy vehicle requiring very large brakes and tires and I question the wisdom of betting the farm on EV’s. I am old(74) and remember in the 1970’s focusing on finding pounds we could take out of cars to be able to put them in a lower inertia class for improved vehicle economy! Now we are producing “tanks” for trucks and SUV’s that thrill people going from zero to 60 mph in 4 to 5 seconds. where is the wisdom in that? All of the cost analysis are interesting but when government agencies realize all the revenue taxes they loose by having people switch to EV’s I am sure the real cost of EV will be adjusted to make up the shortfall. edselford

Does anyone know the timing for 2023 Explorer dealer orders to switch over to 2024 design? 2024 refinements look pretty good! edselford

Studying the transmission specs of the Ford ten speed, I just wonder if anything is actually gained by having the ten speed versus nine other than bragging rights??? The Ford/GM ten speed has an unusual 5 th gear ratio of 1.52 which is only 16% different than fourth gear of1.77 to 1! It might make. More sense to completely eliminate the -1.52 ratio and slightly adjust fourth gear from 1.77 to a ratio of 1.65 to one. If this could be done, we have a very nice drive able nine speed without the skip shifts we have now. This seemed to be Ford’s approach on the 9 versus 8 ATX done with GM where GM uses nine and Ford uses 8 speeds on the same basic design! Or is ten ten speeds inherent in the basic design? edselford

I have an 2021 Explorer. XLT 4WD with 33,000 miles. It has been a nice vehicle with no issues until now! When I drive in the 4 wheel slippery mode, I have noticed a kind of droning sound that starts at 62 mph and goes away at around 66 mph! The noise almost sounds like something is cycling on and off. Has anyone experienced this? What is causing this sound? Four wheel drive or turbo? Other? Appreciate any inputs edselford