Following the debut of the European Ford Explorer EV back in March, the EV crossover’s launch was later pushed back as The Blue Oval awaits the arrival of VW’s next-gen battery tech – which is notable given the fact that the Explorer EV rides on that company’s MEB platform. Regardless, that isn’t stopping travel adventure influencer Lexie Alford – otherwise known as Lexie Limitless – from driving the a pre-production prototype across the globe on a historic trip, which began last month. Alford officially completed the European leg of this long journey just last week, and now, she has begun traversing Africa as she attempts to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe in an electric vehicle.
Lexie Alford began her African safari of sorts in Cape Town, and will eventually conclude that leg of the trip in the Great Kruger National Park in South Africa. Things kicked off with a bang in Cape Town, however, as Alford was able to visit Muizenberg Beach and meet Apish and Loveday from Waves For Change, as well as take part in a surfing lesson and learn how that organization uses the sport to provide child-friendly mental health services for under-resourced communities.
Things got a bit more challenging on the journey to Kroonstad, as Alford reached a charging station only to suffer a blackout, though she was able to charge up the Ford Explorer EV during her overnight stay. She then proceeded through Johannesburg before visiting the Black Mambas – a unit of female rangers who patrol 20,000 acres of the Balule Nature Reserve looking for poachers – before moving on to Zimbabwe, covering another 7,000 kilometers with no problems other than a flat tire.
This journey will ultimately see Alford cross a total of 30 countries before it’s all said and done. The reason for this trip centers around the roughly 100 year anniversary of Aloha Wanderwell’s epic and historic journey that saw her become the first woman to drive around the world, crossing through 43 countries across a five-year period in a Model T.
We’ll have more on the new Ford Explorer EV and Lexie Alford soon, so be sure to subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Explorer news and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
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