Ford Capri review

Make and model: Ford Capri
Description: Electric mid-sized coupe SUV
Price range: £41,485 to £56,185

Ford says: “Celebrating our past while reinventing our future, a car that only Ford could build – the legend is back”.

We say: Forget the fuss about the name. The Ford Capri is a reasonably stylish, reasonably practical EV for those who prefer their cars to look more coupe-like.

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Introduction

Ford came late to the electric party but is now earning itself a slice of the market with four models. The Gen-E version of the Puma small SUV will no doubt help it hold onto its status as Britain’s best-selling car, while the Explorer is a mid-sized SUV borrowing its name from a much larger vehicle in the USA.

Both now sit in showrooms alongside Ford’s first mainstream electric vehicle (EV), the Mustang Mach-E. Like the Capri, it also caused a lot of controversy when launched, with fans of US muscle cars horrified that the company had decided to call its newcomer a Mustang. But having weathered that storm, Ford is now confident enough to annoy fans of a British icon of the 1970s and ’80s, with a new coupe SUV called the Capri.

It’s fair to say that the naming of this newcomer has dominated discussion of the new car, with some observers refusing even to consider looking at a car named after a machine that, in its day, achieved cult status amongst UK enthusiasts. In the two weeks The Car Expert spent with the new Capri, we had to endure “That’s not a Capri” comments daily.

Ford will no doubt be confident in its strategy. All the controversy has certainly got the new Capri noticed, while plenty of examples of the Mustang Mach-E have been sold, and there’s even talk of other names such as Fiesta and Focus being revived.

Finally, there is the pertinent argument that most buyers of today’s Capri won’t even remember or even know about the original. Now that we have addressed the naming issue, is the Capri actually a good car? 

• Ford Capri (2025 onwards) – Expert Rating
• More Ford new car reviews, news, features and Expert Ratings

What is the Ford Capri?

The new Ford Capri is a coupe-styled SUV with close relations to both another Ford model and another manufacturer. Underneath the styling is basically the hardware of the Ford Explorer, which in turn is the product of a tie-up between Ford and Volkswagen – for Explorer read Volkswagen ID.4, and for Capri Volkswagen ID.5.

For now, the Capri comes in three trim levels and with either a single-motor rear-wheel-drive or dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain. There are also two battery capacities – the standard is 52kWh, while there is an alternative dubbed ‘Extended Range’ of 77kWh in 2WD cars and 79kWh in the AWD version.

First impressions

The Capri is built on the technical hardware of the Explorer but boasts a rather more distinctive body style, particularly in the way that the rear roof line slants down to the tailgate.

Ford claims that the style evokes the original Capri, from profile to front and rear ends and the window shapes, and even down to details such as the quadruple headlamps. But creating a coupe version of an SUV is a rather longer stretch than the original coupe version of the Ford Cortina – the looks are certainly sharper than the Explorer, but this is certainly not the sports car that Ford claims it is.

Inside the (mostly Volkswagen-sourced) surroundings appear to be of high quality, while the controls follow the minimalist look that is so prevalent in today’s market. Despite the fastback body shape, it’s roomy too, so not that much less practical than the Explorer.   

We like: As a more stylish version of the Explorer, it ticks many boxes
We don’t like: The name – it shares nothing significant with the original

What do you get for your money?

The three Capri trim levels are dubbed Style, Select and Premium and prices range from £41,485 to £56,185 – all above the Expensive Car Supplement, which translates to paying an extra £425 annually in Vehicle Excise Duty between years two and six.

Standard specification includes a seven-speaker sound system, cloth interior trim, dual-zone climate control and adaptive cruise control, parking sensors and camera as part of the safety aids. Both the entry-level Style and mid-range Select variants come as standard with 19-inch wheels. 

The price jump between Style and Select is some £6,600, but as well as the longer-range battery (the Select is only available with the larger unit), buyers gain a lot more equipment. Highlights include keyless entry and starting, a 12-way power adjustable driver’s seat with memory and a massage function, heated front seats and steering wheel, wireless phone charging and partial faux leather upholstery.

The cheapest Capri in Premium specification starts at just over £46K, but that’s with the lower-capacity battery. The 77kWh variant is £52K, a £4K price hike over the Select. For that, you get matrix LED headlamps, an audio upgrade to a 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen unit with a subwoofer and soundbar, ambient lighting offering a range of ten colours, a powered tailgate and a panoramic sunroof.

Many of the upper-spec features are offered as options on the more entry-level versions, including an upgrade from the 19-inch standard wheels to the 20-inch variants which come with the Premium. There is also a 21-inch version offered as an option – but this will affect the car’s range, and potentially the ride comfort.

The safety specification is strong, as one expects in today’s market, and the Capri earned a five-star rating from Euro NCAP in November 2024. The safety body took the existing rating of the effectively identical Ford Explorer as a basis, although some extra tests were also carried out on the Capri where there were notable differences between the two cars.

Standard safety equipment includes a range of driver aids, controlled by a total of 12 ultrasonic and three radar sensors and a quintet of cameras. Adaptive cruise control is standard and includes a stop-and-go function, while the menu also includes the usual diet of parking sensors and cameras. It’s notable, however, that several functions are optional extras, including lane-centring, traffic sign recognition, a windscreen head-up display and a 360-degree surround-view camera.

Also only available on the options list is a heat pump to help maintain range in colder temperatures, and it’s expensive at £1,050.  

We like: Adaptive cruise control on entry models
We don’t like: Heat pump only available as a pricy option

What’s the Ford Capri like inside?

Like most new cars, and especially EVs, the initial impression when sliding behind the wheel of the new Ford Capri is one of minimalism. Ford even uses this – rather dubiously – as one of the name justifications, stating that any driver of a classic Capri would expect nothing less.

Explorer drivers will find the interior layout very familiar. So the central touchscreen is common to all versions and huge, in this case 15 inches, Ford choosing a vertical format rather than the more commonly found horizontal. It means lowering your eyes for a fraction longer, but it puts more of the screen within easy reach so you don’t have to stretch while driving.

While the screen contains a whole lot of functions, there’s a line of useful buttons along its base. Ford’s system offers user-friendly activation, so using the screen becomes second nature, although some of the submenus can be a bit cumbersome. Voice control and connected navigation are also included, while the system is fully compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphones.

The driver also gets a separate five-inch digital display providing the most essential information without affecting line of sight of the road ahead, and there are also proper button panels on the steering wheel.

A novel touch is that the base of the central screen slides, so one can have it more upright or on a gentle slope, which places it in usefully close proximity to one’s left hand. The sliding process conceals an equally useful storage area beneath it, where there is space for two phones and on all but Style trims wireless charging for one of them.

Storage is a notable factor – there’s a very deep box between the front seats, big enough to conceal a large laptop, while the standard 572-litre boot space expands to 1,505 litres with the rear seats folded.   

As to the most basic requirement, interior space, the car is surprisingly roomy given its exterior profile, with adequate headroom – even in the back, where taller occupants might expect to feel restricted. Our test car also felt bright and airy, not least due to the enormous panoramic sunroof.    

We like: Sensible design of central touchscreen
We don’t like: Some screen functions can be less than user-friendly

What’s under the bonnet?

As is typical with EVs, the Capri mounts its motors in the axles, its battery pack under the floor. The standard rear-wheel-drive version offers the equivalent of 170hp with 310Nm of torque – this gives the car a 0-62mph time of 8.7 seconds, and a quoted average driving range of 242 miles.

The vehicle tested by The Car Expert was supplied with the single motor but the more potent battery. Power increases to 286hp while torque mushrooms to 545Nm, cutting some 2.3 seconds from the 62mph sprint time. It also has a quoted range of up to 389 miles.

The all-wheel-drive version is also the most powerful, at 340hp with 679Nm of torque. It will go from 0 to 62mph in a mere 5.3 seconds but the extra power and weight impacts the range, reducing it to 368 miles.

If you’re charging at a public charging station, the Capri offers up to 135kW on single motor versions and 185kW on the dual motor, with a quoted 10 to 80% recharge on all versions of less than 30 minutes. When the weather turns cold, however, we could do with that expensive optional heat pump.

What’s the Ford Capri like to drive?

An extended two-week test of the new Capri provided a wide variety of driving environments to try it out in. The car follows the EV norm of being very easy to drive, competent and well-behaved, whether clocking up hundreds of miles on the motorway, tackling a challenging country B-road or inching its way slowly through busy urban environments.

Ford has a long-held reputation for the excellent driving dynamics of its cars and the Capri does its best to hold this up alongside the more simple characteristics of EVs. Efficiency remains the prime feature, rather than driving excitement, as one would expect – it rides in comfort and corners effectively with well-damped body control.

Four driving modes are available in the Capri – they are dubbed Comfort, Sport and Eco with the fourth individually customisable to the driver’s preferences. On the evidence of the test drive, however, the difference between modes is nothing very dramatic.

The test car offered just the right balance between potency and practicality – it was simple to drive but also able to power past slow-moving traffic in moments.

In terms of range, our car returned figures not too far shy of the official figures, though this was in high summer, while the test vehicle’s specification did include that optional heat pump. The maximum DC recharging rate of 135kW is a little slower than the best in today’s market.

We made use of the brake regeneration facilities fitted but these are somewhat limited, with no steering wheel paddles and just two modes – it’s certainly not possible to effectively drive the car on a single pedal.    

We like: More steering feel than many recent EV arrivals
We don’t like: Limited brake regen effectiveness

Verdict

The new Ford Capri is a notable addition to the mid-sized electric SUV segment. It will appeal to those who want something a little more distinctive than a typical SUV, especially since opting for sharper looks does not mean compromising on practicality.

Choose a mid-range Select model as the minimum and the Capri’s combination of equipment, build quality and driving experience should make it worthy of consideration by many buyers.

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Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron | BMW iX3 | Ford Mustang Mach-E | Hyundai Ioniq 5 | Kia EV6 | Mercedes-Benz EQA | Polestar 2 | Skoda Enyaq Coupé | Tesla Model Y | Volvo EC40 | Volkswagen ID.5

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