Fair odds that anyone over 40, upon seeing the new interpretation of the Ford Capri, will spend five minutes simply saying, “That’s not a Capri, though, is it?” And despite the Ford marketing department’s tenuous proclamations that this new Capri is ‘what the Capri would have been’ and that ‘the legend is back,’ there’s precious little carryover between a long-hood, two-door coupe that always seemed to smell strongly of leaded gasoline and a five-seat, tall-riding, five-door semi-SUV.
That also happens to be pure electric. Suspension of disbelief is necessary, and the reality of spending many millions of dollars establishing a new nameplate taken into account. Ford’s just using what it’s got.
Still, there are some hints of Capri in there. The ‘dogbone’ front-end treatment that links the headlights is vaguely familiar, and ‘Capri’ is still spelled with the same letters. After that, it’s a beetle-backed electric SUV based on the Explorer. Ford did a deal with VW a while back to share some elements of electric production, so the Explorer is a reworked ID.4 and the Capri is an ID.5. Simple, really.
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And taken as is, the Capri isn’t bad-looking at all. Slightly generic in that there’s a definite hint of Polestar in the C-pillar, and the stance is that weird EV non-SUV height, but the sense of unfashionable fashion means it’s unlikely to date particularly quickly. And yes, there’s a lot of Explorer in there (doors, hood, bumpers, and so on), but that doesn’t hurt it.
From launch, there will be a pair of variants, both designated ‘Extended-Range,’ in either standard or Premium trim. The current base version is a 284hp single-motor rear-wheel drive that gets a 77kWh battery and 628km of possible range, good for 0-100kph in 6.4sec.
The quicker all-wheel-drive version gets a pair of motors for 336hp and a 5.3sec 0-100kph time, with a still very good 592km of range on the WLTP cycle. Premium spec on both adds nice toys and a bit more to the bottom line. Worth noting that after the initial mine of early-adopter wallets, there’ll be a rear-wheel-drive version with a smaller 52kWh battery and 168hp. So cheaper is coming.
As for convenience, the 77kWh car gets 135kW max DC charging while the 79kWh gets 185kW, so that means 10% to 80% in 28 minutes and 26 minutes, respectively. They both get 11kW AC capability, too, so pretty decent all around.
Inside, it’s pretty much like an Explorer: neat and well-made, with a 14.6-inch portrait touchscreen in the middle that can slide up and down to preference, which also reveals a ‘secret’ storage area behind, though that’s not very secret now. There are the usual ADAS and convenience features, and although the Capri’s tech is based on VW’s last-generation software (VW has already moved on), it seemed to work well in the car we saw.
There’s also a ‘megaconsole’ central storage bin that holds 17 liters of stuff, but while useful for keeping things out of sight, it feels more like a place to simply forget what you own in a giant hole. The rear seats are roomy but dark. The cargo area is big—at 627 liters loaded to the roof, it’s actually bigger than the Explorer. So it’s perfectly practical.
And as for the way it drives, we’ll have to see—although the Capri will have 10mm lower suspension than the Explorer and a slightly more sporting bent, so it should be decent. Which means that if you want an electric SUV with a blue oval, you now have quite the choice between the Mustang Mach-E, the Explorer, and the Capri.
The Mach-E is supposed to be the topline—although both Capri and Explorer might eat some of the low-end sales—and although this doesn’t feel anything like the name might suggest, it’s also looking like a solid electric SUV offering. Let’s wait and see how it drives to be sure.
More photos of the Ford Capri 2025:
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
