2026 Ford Explorer

2026 Ford Explorer in Danvers, MA

North Shore families who need a three-row SUV that handles the Danvers school run in the morning, a weekend drive to the New Hampshire Lakes Region or the Maine coast in the summer, and a January commute on I-95 or Route 128 without drama will find the 2026 Ford Explorer covers all of it with an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ rating and a meaningful 2026 refresh behind it. A new Tremor® off-road grade joins the lineup, the panoramic fixed glass roof extends across additional trims, BlueCruise now includes Automatic Lane Change, and the standard 13.2-inch Ford Digital Experience touchscreen with a 12.2-inch digital instrument cluster anchors a cabin that competes well above its price point. Seating for seven, up to 85.8 cubic feet of total cargo space, and standard Ford Co-Pilot360® Assist+ give Essex County families a capable, well-equipped three-row SUV that earns its keep across New England's full four seasons.

Interior Features Where Three Rows Work for Real New England Families

The Explorer delivers passenger dimensions that hold up across all three rows without treating the back as a last resort. Front legroom reaches 43 inches, second-row legroom provides 37.5 inches, and the third row offers 31.8 inches — numbers that support adult passengers on longer drives to Boston, Cape Cod, or the White Mountains alongside the shorter school and activity runs around Danvers and the surrounding North Shore communities. A standard 13.2-inch Ford Digital Experience touchscreen runs wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a 12.2-inch digital instrument cluster delivers driving data and navigation clearly at eye level. Tri-zone automatic climate control manages three independent temperature preferences across the cabin, a feature Essex County families will use from October through April when occupant comfort preferences diverge by row. The Active base trim includes a power driver's seat and second-row captain's chairs as standard, and USB ports in all three rows keep every device charged on the longer regional drives that New England's geography invites.

Exterior Features Ready for New England Year Round

Standard LED headlamps, Intelligent Access on all four doors, and a standard Class III Trailer Tow Package give the Explorer a practical, capable exterior specification that suits Essex County daily life and New England weekend adventures from the factory. A panoramic fixed glass roof now extends across additional 2026 trims, bringing natural light into the cabin during the spring and fall seasons that make New England's landscape worth experiencing from the road. New for 2026, the Tremor® joins the lineup with off-road-tuned suspension, underbody protection, a Torsen® limited-slip rear axle, and distinctive orange accent details for Danvers buyers who want genuine trail capability on the logging roads and forest access routes of northern New England. Intelligent 4WD on available configurations adds proactive traction management for the snow-packed and icy surfaces that Massachusetts roads develop reliably from December through March.

Performance Features That Handle Massachusetts Roads in Every Condition

The standard 2.3-liter EcoBoost® four-cylinder produces 300 horsepower through a 10-speed automatic transmission, providing confident power for the I-95 and Route 128 interchange merges through Danvers, the longer highway stretches to Boston and Providence, and the grade changes on the back roads through the North Shore's hill country. Towing capacity reaches 5,000 pounds on properly equipped models, covering boats headed to Gloucester Harbor and Rockport, camper trailers for Maine and New Hampshire weekends, and the utility loads that Essex County families move across an active calendar year. Intelligent 4WD distributes torque between the front and rear axles before wheel slip occurs — a meaningful advantage on Route 128 in January and on the wet secondary roads through Topsfield and Ipswich that North Shore drivers navigate regularly.

Safety Features That Earned the Highest IIHS Rating Available

The 2026 Explorer's IIHS Top Safety Pick+ designation reflects both its crash structure strength and the breadth of its standard active safety technology. Ford Co-Pilot360® Assist+ comes standard on Active trims, covering Pre-Collision Assist® with Automatic Emergency Braking, adaptive cruise control, BLIS® with trailer coverage, rear cross-traffic braking, and Lane-Keeping System. The updated BlueCruise hands-free highway driving system now includes Automatic Lane Change on select trims — a genuinely useful capability on the I-95 corridor between Danvers and Boston and the Route 128 stretches through the North Shore where lane changes in moderate traffic are a daily occurrence. Post-Collision Braking activates after an initial impact to reduce the severity and distance of secondary collisions, adding a layer of family protection that matters on New England's busier highway corridors.

New England's Three-Row Choice — Come Take the Explorer for a Drive

The 2026 Ford Explorer brings IIHS Top Safety Pick+ protection, a standard 13.2-inch touchscreen, tri-zone climate control, 5,000-pound towing capacity, a new Tremor® grade, and standard Ford Co-Pilot360® Assist+ to Danvers families who need a three-row SUV that handles North Shore life and New England adventures with equal capability. Come in and take one out on the roads you know.