From £42,075

The Capri is back but this time as an electric crossover. Can it live up to the legend?

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Capri or not Capri? That really is the question that has dominated Ford’s new electric crossover since it was revealed back in July.

Sacrilege or not, it's ultimately just a badge on a tailgate. If Ford’s decision to bring the Ford Capri name back was a genuine belief that the new car is true to the original’s lineage (its design team did an exercise in creating a range of mythical Capri models over subsequent generations since the last one went out of production in 1986, to show how they got to this new model) or a more cynical marketing ploy to create some buzz around the launch of yet another four-point-something-metre-long crossover electric car, it has got people’s attention and them talking. Perhaps both things are true at the same time. 

The words that follow here are unlikely to change your mind on whether or not this new model is a ‘real’ Capri, so passionate has the debate been.

You can see for yourself that it’s quite clearly not a two-door coupé like Ford’s blue-collar icon, rather a raised family hatchback, similar in size and concept to the Polestar 2. Given that it’s electric, more than twice the weight and almost four decades on from the last Capri, it’s clearly not going to drive anything like the original either. 

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DESIGN & STYLING

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The Capri is very closely related to the Ford Explorer and the pair are both derived from the Volkswagen Group’s MEB architecture for EVs. If the Explorer is the VW ID 4, then the Capri is the VW ID 5, but with the windscreens pushed further back for different proportions. 

Ulrich Koesters, director of electrification at Ford of Europe, goes as far as to say the Capri and Explorer are “twins”. Yet the Capri was actually the lead model in the development, despite the Explorer having launched first – all part of the desire to create what Koesters calls “a sports car for the family”.

The rear windscreen glass has a special treatment to ensure water runs down it rather than sits on it, further reducing the need for a wiper.

This effectively gave the Capri a longer to-do list and greater bandwidth in mixing dynamics with practicality; the Explorer would then fall into line accordingly.

The wheelbase of the two electric Fords is common, yet the Capri is 20cm longer - all in the rear overhang - to give a faster profile to the Explorer and create a larger boot by around 100 litres. 

Much attention has been paid to the aerodynamics of the car to not only help efficiency (the drag coefficient comes in at 0.26 in the Capri, compared with 0.29 in the Explorer, which is why the Capri has more range from the same battery options) but also ensure its silhouette wasn’t interrupted by a rear windscreen wiper. 

The Capri also sits slightly lower than the Explorer, in a further boost to efficiency and also to reduce its centre of gravity. The MEB architecture allows for three different ride heights, and the rear-wheel-drive Capri has the lowest available. The four-wheel-drive Capri sits 10mm higher, which is the same as the rear-wheel-drive Explorer. The four-wheel-drive Explorer then sits 18mm higher again.

The front and rear light designs are also different for the Capri over the Explorer, even if the underlying technology is the same. 

Parked next to each other, the Capri and the Explorer do look quite different, although to my eyes, the Explorer is the car that has more visual impact and greater individuality. It stands out more than the Capri in the aforementioned sea of electric mid-sized crossovers. 

INTERIOR

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Inside, there’s even greater commonality between the Capri and the Explorer. You’d need to sit in the back of the Capri and notice there's less head room when it's optionally equipped with the large panoramic roof than the Explorer to tell a difference between the pair in layout terms, although there is a bonus point for noting the steering wheel is different, nodding to the original Capri with its lower central spoke. 

What’s good inside the Explorer is good in the Capri: spaciousness, lots of storage and an even bigger boot. Likewise, the cons are the same in both cars: a rather dour overall tone and feel and a tricky-to-operate large 15in touchscreen that's left to do too much heavy lifting and has more screen space than Ford seems to know what to do with.

The boot is bigger than the Explorer, at 567 litres, but shares something in common in being quite an awkward shape to use.

More specifically on that screen, it can be tilted to reveal a lockable storage area below it. The graphics are clear enough on it but the icons quite small and menus quickly become confusing. To do anything more than a simple command, you need to take our eyes off the road for a prod or two. Ford says it’s closely following initial reaction to its application in the Explorer and is open to updating and improving its functionality accordingly. 

The heater controls are also included on the screen, but the core functions of these are permanently sited at the bottom of it. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard. 

That overall feeling of sparseness is a byproduct of the VW Group underpinnings; the MEB-based cars all share a common feeling of being rather glum on the inside, with material richness and interest that’s a long way behind rivals like the Peugeot e-3008. The likes of the Polestar 2 are sparse as well yet still create a cool, modern interior that doesn't feel as austere as the Capri.  

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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Given the Explorer and Capri are twins, much is common between them: rear-wheel drive as standard with either a 52kWh battery and a 168bhp motor or a 77kWh battery and 282bhp motor.

There's also an optional dual-motor, four-wheel-drive version with a 79kWh battery and 335bhp, as tested here.

You can’t play around with different levels of regenerative braking, with just a normal mode and a quite crude ‘B’ mode selectable from a stalk beyond the steering wheel.

All the motor and battery technology is the very latest available on the MEB architecture, which is also used for VW, Audi, Skoda and Cupra models.

The Capri is a satisfying car to drive and place on the road and an easy one to gel and get along with. It's brisk, with strong initial acceleration in particular and excellent traction out of corners.

It’s a hard car to corrupt and break its composed feel, and it’s all backed up with good refinement levels.

While performance is strong, there are no hidden depths to the car. The overall feeling is one of solidity and composure, rather than a car to interact with and really enjoy driving. 

RIDE & HANDLING

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The suspension is ultimately the same between the Explorer and the Capri, yet with subtle tuning differences to account for the differing ride heights.

This is where the Capri’s development really accelerated ahead of the Explorer at Ford’s Lommel proving ground in Belgium, in order to try to make it as “Ford fun to drive as possible”, in Koesters’ words, while ensuring it was comfortable too. Balancing these things successfully has been a long-term talent of Ford’s.

In many ways, the Capri feels like a heavier, taller Mondeo, yet certainly not a certain sub-tonne coupé from the 1980s.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given this closest of relationships, they are very similar cars to drive. Back-to-back drives don’t reveal any real discernible differences. This is no bad thing, as the Explorer is already one of the more characterful cars in the class, albeit with the caveat that it's not the most dynamic class of cars to begin with. 

The ride is on the firm side without being uncomfortable. The caveat here is that the Explorer felt similar on smoother European test roads, before having a poor low-speed secondary ride exposed in the UK. 

The steering is light yet still precise in its feel, and what body roll there is is well controlled. 

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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The electric range on our test was suggested at being around 330 miles, which points to good efficiency – something else the Capri has in common with the Explorer.

The official range can be as high as 389 miles in the rear-wheel-drive model in entry-level Select trim. The standard-range model that will follow in 2025 is expected to have a range of around 250 miles.

Despite the relatively high price, a heat pump isn't standard-fit: it's a £1050 option on both Select and Premium models.

To get the fastest charging speeds of 185kW, you need to have a four-wheel-drive model. The maximum charging speed in rear-wheel-drive models is 135kW, which lags behind the likes of the Polestar 2 and Kia EV6, which can accept in excess of 200kW.

Two trim levels are offered on the Capri: Select and Premium. The standard-range model in Select trim is priced from £42,075. The leap to Premium trim here is £4100. The extended-range model is an extra £6000 on top in both trim levels, while four-wheel drive adds an extra £4000, meaning the top-spec car comes in at £56,175.

The pricing looks expensive next to rivals, but Ford will point to more generous standard equipment levels. That said, as in the Explorer, the only part of the Premium trim that feels worth having is the better matrix LED headlights. If you can live without those, Select trim will suffice.

VERDICT

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The Capri was never going to be anything like the car that last wore this most iconic of badges. Yet what car from the 1980s is? 

Whether or not it delivers on its brief of being a sports car for the family is a bigger question. While it's well suited to families with plenty of space and storage inside, it isn't a sporty car, let alone a sports car. It's instead a car with fluent road manners, one that has nice steering and good body control. Performance is plentiful, although a firm ride is on the watch list ahead of the car’s arrival in the UK.  

We wish it would have more character, not only in the way it drives but also in the interior, which is rather sombre. 

The Capri will join the ranks of the booming electric crossover class with some bits better than rivals, some bits worse, yet its trump card remains that name: it ensures the car will stand out, and that will count for something in the increasingly homogenised class in which it competes.

Mark Tisshaw

mark-tisshaw-autocar
Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.