The 2024 Ford Explorer is right around the corner, and we’re getting an early look at it thanks to these spy photos. What seems to be an ST-Line was out cruising by the photographer without a bit of camouflage, giving us a clear look at the SUV’s updates.
The grille is the most obvious update. It’s quite a bit larger in basically every direction, particularly vertically. The headlights have even been pushed out of the grille. The ST-Line seemingly emphasizes this with the large, black mesh inside. The nose generally looks more vertical and blunt, too.
Being a refresh, the sides of the Explorer are basically unchanged, which brings us to the SUV’s tail. The taillights have been reworked and now have illuminated extensions that push into the hatch. They’re connected by a piece of contrasting trim across the middle. The bumper now hides the exhaust tips and has a more pronounced fake diffuser shape.
The interior has received attention as well. The dash has roughly the same overall shape, but the air vents have been integrated with the dash panel split in the middle, cleaning things up significantly. And the repositioned air vents also freed up space for a much bigger infotainment screen. The door panels and center console have been tweaked, too.
We’re not expecting much in the way of powertrain changes, though, as this is a mid-cycle refresh. That means a base turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder, optional turbo 3.0-liter V6 and a naturally aspirated 3.3-liter hybrid V6. We could see a plug-in hybrid being added. And of course, rear- or all-wheel-drive will be available, too.
Considering the fact this prototype is completely uncovered and sporting all production-ready parts, we should see the SUV fully revealed very soon. We would bet within the next few months in time for the model-year update.
Read the full article here