Electric Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator Pushed Back To 2024

We all know that all-electric versions of the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator are set to arrive sooner or later. Both crossovers will be following the F-150 Lightning as the next Blue Oval models to arrive without combustion engines under the hood. We also know that a new, dedicated EV architecture will underpin both crossover EVs.

However, the latest development dictates a delay to the arrival of the next Ford EVs. That’s according to a memo sent out to Ford’s suppliers, obtained by Automotive News. According to the memo, the new EVs will enter production in December 2024. 

Automotive News reports that the original schedule was set for mid-2023. Apart from the 18-month delay, Ford will no longer build both EVs at the Cuautitlan assembly plant in Mexico. The new location is yet to be determined, according to the memo.

That said, Ford is expected to ramp up the production of the popular Mustang Mach-E. Though the delay of the Explorer EV and Aviator EV isn’t explicitly connected to the hike in Mach-E’s production, an interview with Ford North America COO Lisa Drake seems to imply so.

Drake said that the American automaker plans to dedicate the Cuautitlan assembly plant to Mustang Mach-E’s production. The target is to produce 200,000 Mustang Mach-E units annually by 2023. The increased output is said to begin next year.

There has been a huge demand for the Mustang Mach-E ever since its launch. This year alone, Ford is poised to sell around 60,000 units of the all-electric Mustang crossover globally. The projected number means an increase in production by over three-folds.

“We had previously contemplated building an additional electric vehicle down there in Cuautitlan but our first priority right now is to scale production of the Mach-E given that demand,” Drake told Automotive News.