Transportation
Ford Drops Hybrid Option for Update of Popular Explorer SUV
- Automaker will only build gas-electric SUV for police fleets
- Move comes as hybrid sales accelerate amid a slowdown in EVs
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Ford Motor Co. began taking orders Thursday for a restyled version of its venerable Explorer sport-utility vehicle, updated with new and improved technology. But there’s one option no longer available : a hybrid powertrain.
The 2025 Explorer, the sixth edition of the SUV that’s been a top-seller for Ford for more than three decades, won’t be offered in a gasoline-electric version when it arrives in dealers’ showrooms this summer, even as the automaker seeks to boost hybrid sales. The popular SUV’s hybrid version — which hasn’t been a best seller for Ford — is being limited to law enforcement fleet buyers as the Police Interceptor squad car.