When Ford killed off the Fiesta in Europe, the company made no secret about what would replace it: Electric crossovers, built on Volkswagen’s MEB platform. Now, with a tweet from European Model E boss Martin Sander, the blue oval has shown off a sneak peek of its next electrified model. And folks, it sure is a boxy crossover.
Automotive News speculated that the upcoming crossover will be called the Explorer Sport, but this initial tease doesn’t show much Explorer DNA in the new car’s styling. It’s more compact than its bigger brother, and the overall shape — and that body line that dips beneath the headlight — more closely resemble another non-American Ford: The Everest.
Sure, the headlights aren’t a perfect match, but look at the rest of the body. The Everest and this new, unnamed EV share a similarly long, low greenhouse and tall, squared-off front end. Imagine an Everest dropped to the ground like that Cosworth-inspired Maverick, and you may have a pretty good estimation of how this new EV will look.
As a replacement for the Fiesta, an Everest-inspired EV is... disheartening. Of course, the push towards electrification is one from which we’ll all benefit, but replacing one of the industry’s most charming and entertaining subcompact cars with a bigger crossover plays into the ever-quickening arms race of ever-growing commuter cars that continue to do more harm than good.
Ford’s upcoming EV will surely sell, with proven mechanical underpinnings and on-trend, off-road-inspired styling. It will likely, in a vacuum, be a very interesting and good-looking vehicle. But as a Fiesta replacement, is it the car we need?