Ford Explorer and Lexie Alford begin their Charge Around The Globe

Lexie Alford (@LexieLimitless), the youngest person to visit every country in the world, begins her extraordinary Charge Around The Globe in our new electric Ford Explorer today.
 
She’s leaving from Le Hotel Royal in Nice, France, which is the same place Aloha Wanderwell started from when she became the first woman to drive around the world a century ago, also in a Ford. From there, Lexie will be taking in six continents and over 30 countries in what should be an epic journey over the coming months. Together, this trip will aim to prove just what’s possible in an electric vehicle. For Lexie, it is also an opportunity to set the record of becoming the first person to circumnavigate the globe in an electric vehicle.¹

Her electric Ford Explorer is a pre-production prototype model that is as close as possible to the vehicle our customers will experience when on sale in Europe next summer. With no special modifications to tackle the challenges that await, it’s a vehicle tailor-made for adventure and will keep her connected, comfortable and ready for anything on the ultimate road-trip.

To help further prepare for this once-in-a-lifetime roadtrip Lexie has been getting a behind-the-scenes look into the Explorer and how we developed it. She visited our design and product development teams in Cologne, Germany, experienced extremes of temperature at the Environmental Test Center – or ‘weather factory’ – and completed her advanced driver training certification at the Lommel Proving Ground in Belgium.
 
Lexie’s journey goes live today and followers will receive regular updates for the duration of her epic trip. You can follow the journey by searching #ChargeAroundTheGlobe or following @lexielimitless and our @fordnewseurope social channels.
 
 
¹ Lexie is hoping to set a record for first person to circumnavigate the globe in an electric vehicle. The minimum requirement for setting a circumnavigation record is 28,968km, and she must pass through two antipodean points, travel on at least five continents and start and end at the same location. Officials from RecordSetter will be at various locations around the world to verify the attempt. 

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