The auto industry can be a harsh mistress; one moment, you’re watching companies innovate and deliver all sorts of new things, and the next moment, they’re gone. Considering the Ford Explorer has been around since 1991, I wouldn’t exactly call it transitory, but certain things it has offered could certainly be described that way.
Anyone looking for a used Ford for sale with an eye toward a fuel-efficient Explorer will see exactly what I mean, particularly when it comes to the hybrid powertrain for this SUV. Midsize SUVs like the Explorer have a lot to offer, particularly in the way they deliver a spacious vehicle that isn’t too big, and hybrid performance adds impressive fuel efficiency to that list. So what’s up with the Ford Explorer Hybrid? Let’s find out…
A Little Background on the Ford Explorer
Before we start focusing specifically on the hybrid option for this SUV, let’s briefly talk about what this vehicle is all about. Ford introduced the Explorer for the 1991 model year as a smaller SUV that was designed to deliver rugged capabilities, which people expected from SUVs back then, along with a pretty comfortable ride on the road.
Since its introduction, the Explorer has been updated and redesigned many times across a large number of generations, all the way up to the sixth-generation Explorer that is still on sale today. These are also the models folks will typically find at dealerships when looking at used options, since the sixth generation kicked off with the 2020 model year, and the only generation to offer a hybrid powertrain.
I should note that the Explorer hasn’t only grown into a popular SUV for folks to park in their driveways; it’s also become a very popular option for law enforcement. Since the iconic Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor was discontinued in 2011, it has been replaced by the Police Interceptor Utility, which is based on the Explorer. This model has proven very popular, with a second-generation Police Interceptor Utility launching alongside the sixth-gen Explorer for the 2020 model year. You’ll see why I mention all of this in a bit.
Introduction of the Ford Explorer Hybrid
Across 35 years and six generations on the market, a number of engines have been available for the Ford Explorer. With the launch of its sixth generation for the 2020 model year, Ford introduced a new option for the Explorer for the first time: a hybrid powertrain. Notably, this is one of four engines offered with this all-new generation, marking an incredible variety of options.
For 2020, the standard engine is a turbocharged 2.3L EcoBoost I-4 that provides 300 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque; a 3.0L V6 engine is also offered that provides 365 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque. Most impressive of all is the turbocharged 3.0L EcoBoost V6 engine tuned by the Ford Performance team to deliver 400 hp and 415 lb-ft of torque in the Explorer ST.
Alongside these three gasoline options, Ford offers a hybrid engine for the Explorer for the first time: a 3.3L V6 hybrid that delivers 318 hp and 322 lb-ft of torque. You can see that this is a bit better than the standard engine, ensuring that hybrid models are quite fun to drive.
In terms of efficiency, the standard engine gets an estimated 21 MPG in the city and 28 MPG on the highway, with 24 MPG combined. The 2020 Explorer Hybrid, however, gets an estimated 27 MPG in the city, 29 MPG on the highway, and 28 MPG combined. Those numbers are for rear-wheel drive models, but even four-wheel drive Explorers still get impressive gas mileage with the hybrid engine.
One limitation of the hybrid model, however, is that it was offered only as part of a single trim level. There are five trims available for the 2020 Explorer: the base model, the XLT, the Limited, the ST, and the Platinum. Only the Limited trim came with the hybrid powertrain, so anyone interested in an Explorer with the features of those other trims was out of luck. That’s a bit frustrating, if understandable since this was the first time Ford offered a hybrid engine for the Explorer, though it shows how surprisingly cautious the brand can be.
Expanding Hybrid Options
This restriction was eased a bit the following year; even though the 2020 Explorer was an all-new model with a big redesign for a new generation, Ford delivered an impressive number of new features for the 2021 Explorer. If you start comparing different trims from one year to the next, then you’ll find numerous upgrades like heated seats becoming standard on more trims, more comfortable seating on more trim levels, and a new Sport Appearance package. Alongside this, a couple of new trims were also introduced: the high-end King Ranch with a warm, richly detailed interior, plus the off-road-focused Timberline with enhanced performance and capabilities when leaving paved roads behind.
Joining these two trims is a third new option for 2021: a Platinum Hybrid trim to go along with the Limited Hybrid model. It’s nice to see a second hybrid option available, but it still restricts the hybrid engine to these two versions, both of which are upgrades pretty well above where the Explorer starts with its baseline model. At the very least, however, it means you can get the most refined features for the Explorer along with the impressive fuel efficiency delivered by the hybrid powertrain. It would’ve been nice to see the hybrid engine available across more than two trims; although at this point, the Explorer has nine trim levels on offer, which seems a bit much.
Goodbye Explorer Hybrid (Sort Of)
Here’s our timeline so far: the hybrid engine is introduced for the 2020 Explorer on a single trim, followed by a second trim with hybrid performance for the 2021 Explorer. For 2022 and 2023, nothing really changed in terms of hybrid availability, and then for the 2024 model year, Ford discontinued the hybrid engine. That’s it—just four years with a hybrid engine on offer out of the 35 years that the Explorer has been available, which is a shame because I always like getting better fuel efficiency from an SUV like this. Ford didn’t comment on why it discontinued the hybrid, other than what I’ll get to in a moment, and it never released sales figures for the Explorer broken down by engine, so we don’t know if sales for hybrid models weren’t good enough.
The bit of gray area about the hybrid Explorer being discontinued is that it’s still available, even going into the 2025 model year, on the Police Interceptor Utility version of the Explorer. Ford has said the hybrid engine has been very popular there since it helps save money, particularly due to the driving habits of police officers, who spend a lot of time idling. The one statement Ford seems to have made about discontinuing the engine is that it wanted to focus on providing it to law enforcement, so that would suggest—to me—that it was more popular on that front and consumer sales couldn’t justify keeping it around for non-police drivers.
What’s the Future Hold for This Hybrid?
Great question! Unfortunately, I have no idea. No one outside of Ford knows for sure if we’ll see a hybrid engine return for the Explorer, although it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if one did. After a lot of talk about going all-electric with its entire lineup several years ago, Ford has shifted its focus to going all-in on hybrid models rather than EVs. Still, the brand seems to be saying this in the same breath as it discontinued the Explorer Hybrid, so we’ll see what that means exactly and how things shake out.
If I had to guess, I’d say Ford wants to switch to a different hybrid engine in the Explorer at some point in the future, and it is still figuring out exactly what it wants to use. We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s a pretty safe bet that another hybrid Explorer will be available at some point in the next five years.
