In order to promote the launch of the fully electric Ford Explorer in Europe, the automaker announced that the EV will embark on a trip around the globe. Influencer Lexie Alford, who has the record for the youngest person to visit every country in the world, will sit behind the wheel of the SUV starting later this year.
Besides promoting Ford’s latest EV offering, the goal of this project is to honor Aloha Wanderwell who was the first woman to drive around the world. Wanderwell’s expedition took five years between 1922 and 1927, as she drove 380,000 miles across 80 countries in a Ford Model T starting at the age of 16 years old! Of course, the immense difficulty of achieving this feat with the infrastructure and the technology of the 1920s can’t be replicated in the modern world, but the new project will certainly still be a challenge.
Read: Ford Turns VW ID.4 Into Explorer EV For Europe
Lexie Alford, known in social media under the name Lexie Limitless, is no stranger to travel. Back in 2019 and when she was 21 years old, she became the youngest person to visit all 197 countries of the world, something that has been verified by Guinness World Records. She also has a connection to Ford, since she learned how to drive in her father’s old F-350 Super Duty as highlighted in her own video announcement of the big contract.
While details are limited at the moment, the official press release suggests that the influencer will “lead an expedition around the globe, overcoming challenges, meeting people from many cultures, and visiting places of outstanding beauty” in the zero-emission Explorer. It will be interesting to learn the logistics of such a long trip, the route, and the necessary charging stops for the electric SUV. Hopefully, we will get access to that kind of information besides the expected fancy postcards and drone videos from different countries alongside footage of Alford.
The electric Ford Explorer is based on the MEB architecture sharing most of its underpinnings with the VW ID.4 but it features a unique exterior and interior design with a completely different styling language. The detailed specifications of the electric SUV that debuted earlier today have yet to be announced. It will be interesting to see whether the automaker will use the longest-range FWD option or the most powerful and capable AWD variant of the Explorer for this trip.
Ford will be updating us on the world travel adventures of the electric Explorer through its social media channels starting later this year. The same will be possible from the Instagram and YouTube profiles of Lexie Limitless.
