All-New Ford Capri and Explorer EV Are Volkswagen IDs in Disguise, But Are They Cooler? 

The Volkswagen Group MEB platform – in German, it's called 'Modularer E-Antriebs Baukasten,' aka a 'modular electric-drive toolkit' was conceived as a modular architecture dedicated to electric cars – and it is currently used for models from Audi, Cupra, Škoda, and Volkswagen, as well as Ford. To show its extent, it's easy to remind us that it underpins three models from Audi, two from Cupra, two from Ford, two from Skoda, and no less than nine from the namesake Volkswagen brand.

As far as the Blue Ovals are concerned, the important facts and figures belong to the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 – while the latest entry into the family is the newly revealed Ford Capri. Originally, the nameplate was created by Ford of Europe as a fastback coupe designed by Philip T. Clark, who was also involved with the design of the Ford Mustang. It was the European version, basically, and it used parts from the Mk2 Ford Cortina along with a wide variety of engines.

Production lasted from 1968 to 1986, and there were three iterations (Mk I, II, III) throughout the years to keep it interesting. The success was quite resounding as the nameplate sold almost 1.9 million vehicles during its lifespan. Now, though, Ford aims to recreate the spirit for our contemporary times. They successfully negotiated these murky waters at home in North America with the revival of the Ford Maverick nameplate, transformed from a 1970s compact car into a highly popular unibody pickup truck during the early 2020s.

They also started the renaming campaign in Europe with the all-electric Explorer, which shouldn't be confused with the American variant because it's much smaller. Curiously, Ford also sold the regular Explorer on the Old Continent, where it brought the PHEV variant, a sixth-generation behemoth packed with 450 horsepower. At home in America, the 'normal' Explorer just got refreshed for the 2025 model year and will soldier on for a little while longer. But over the big pond (aka the Atlantic Ocean), things are different, and instead of a mid-size crossover SUV with three rows, we have a battery-powered compact CUV produced in Cologne, Germany.

Production of the Ford Explorer EV just kicked off in June 2024 at the new all-electric car center where the company used to produce the once-highly-successful Fiesta subcompact series. It remains to be seen if the all-electric endeavor will be successful as the climate isn't exactly favorable to EVs, even though last year it seemed like they were the only ones that mattered. Times have changed extremely fast, and at home in Germany, the Ford Explorer EV kicks off from €49,500, which translates to a budget of almost $54k. That's not very cheap because the larger Tesla Model Y costs €45k in its base configuration. The refreshed Tesla Model 3 is even more affordable, starting from €42,490.

However, Ford probably hopes that the American spirit of the Explorer EV will prevail. If not, they have an aid – the reborn Capri is now the coupe-SUV counterpart, just like is the case with the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 pair. Since it's a lifestyle model, it's even more expensive – it kicks off at €51,950, which equates to $56,579 at the current exchange rate. That's going to be a hard sell, for sure. Not just because of Tesla, for sure, but because Volkswagen sells the ID.4 and ID.5 much cheaper than Ford's Explorer EV and new Capri. More precisely, they start from €40,335 and €42,970, respectively! Ouchie, right?

From this point on, it probably doesn't matter anymore that some folks will consider the ID.4 and ID.5 a lot blander than the Ford Explorer EV and Capri pair – beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. Also, they have the same technology, so why would you pay almost €9k more for a Ford Capri – just because it has SYNC Move technology on the 14.6-inch central screen or because it's painted in Vivid Yellow and Blue My Mind on the outside?

Unfortunately, the EV market is now in a bit of limbo, and for sure, those who will profit are the ones with the larger economies of scale and the capacity to adjust the prices according to the industry's needs. Ford's EV business is losing a lot of money. Volkswagen also lost a ton, but they're so humongous that they can absorb a lot of punishment. Plus, now they have a lot of EVs from across vastly different brands – and they can appeal to a wider pool of customers.

Sadly, while both the Ford Explorer EV and Ford Capri look a bit cooler than the vast array of compact EVs currently on sale, their prohibitive prices might spell doom – which is quite unfortunate, frankly. Hopefully, the Blue Oval company will see the situation and regain composure with variable MSRPs depending on the local markets within the greater European Union. For example, in Romania, the 'legendary' Ford Capri with the RWD Extended Range configuration (286 ponies, a range of up to 627 km or 390 miles) starts from €41,900 – albeit with a little help from the local incentive policy.