The Ford Expedition has been Kelley Blue Book’s Best Buy Award winner in the full-size SUV class for seven consecutive years. It balances serious comfort with serious capability, including real off-road chops and impressive towing capacity.
However, the current model has been on the road for seven years. It faces an army of GM rivals — the Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, and GMC Yukon — all getting significant updates for the 2025 model year. Ford knows it needs an answer.
Meet the 2025 Ford Expedition, with a new technology interface, an off-road Tremor model, and a new split liftgate. Ford has not revealed pricing. The 2024 model on dealer lots now starts just below $60,000, with prices rising in the mid-$80,000 range.
Carryover Powertrain — So Far
When Ford’s Lincoln luxury division updated its own full-size SUV, the Navigator, for 2025, it left the powertrain and chassis untouched while redesigning the body and interior.
So far, we’re seeing the same approach with the Expedition. That means a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 (making 400 horsepower in base form and 440 hp in high-output tune). The new Tremor trim gets the high-output version as standard equipment, while that engine is optional on other trims.
It will be offered in rear- or 4-wheel drive (RWD or 4WD) with a 10-speed automatic transmission. No word yet on hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or electric versions of the Expedition yet, though Ford reps responded to inquiries with sly grins and the standard, “We can’t comment on future product” response to the obvious questions.
Reshaped Without Radical Changes
Designers have given it a wider grille, but an upward arc at the lower edges keeps it from looking oversized. We’re tempted to say it has a friendly, slight grin framed by thin LEDs shaped like brackets. Those also have a gentle bend to them, softening the look a bit from the way Ford executes it on its trucks.
A split liftgate – three-quarters of it folds up and one-quarter folds down like a truck’s tailgate – is new and shared with the Navigator. A fold-down third-row seat “transforms to turn the tailgate into a serving table, and power outlets in the cargo area are just an arm’s length away,” Ford says.
Inside, a New Approach to Screens
Ford’s Lincoln luxury division has taken a radical new approach to in-car screens for 2025. The Expedition has borrowed an idea from the theme, but carried it out halfway.
A 24-inch panoramic display screen sits in front of the driver, stretching toward the car’s center. It’s mounted high and far away, near the base of the windshield. That keeps it in the driver’s line of sight, so they don’t have to look down from the roadway to consult turn-by-turn directions or check speed. It’s not a touchscreen and sits too far away to touch.
Ford says that a nearly square steering wheel “enables sight lines over – not through – the steering wheel.
A smaller touchscreen mounted in the center stack where you’re used to seeing a screen controls it.
We’ve tested a similar setup on the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus, but that car’s high-mounted screen stretches nearly from door to door. The Expedition’s is far smaller.
In the Lincoln, the setup is intuitive and effective. We’ll have to test the Expedition to see if it works as well on a smaller scale.
If you prefer voice commands, you can choose your voice assistant — Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa are built in. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring are standard.
An all-new Ford Connectivity Package adds “the ability to use the Wi-Fi hotspot capability, Google Play apps, and embedded Google Maps seamlessly.” The system can handle up to 10 connected devices simultaneously up to 50 feet from the vehicle. It comes at a cost, though. Ford says buyers can bundle a subscription into the purchase price or accept a one-year free trial and then pay annually.
Regarding subscriptions, Ford’s well-regarded BlueCruise hands-free highway driving assist system comes “available to activate” with a free 90-day plan.
Second-row passengers get a built-in device holder that “clamps firmly around nearly any digital device – from standard smartphone to over-sized tablet.”
Tremor Model
Ford scraps the Timberline off-road Expedition for a more capable Tremor model in 2025.
“Its 10.6-inch ground clearance is better than any other vehicle in the full-size SUV segment,” Ford says. It rides on on 33-inch General Grabber all-terrain tires.
Engineers retuned its suspension and electric power-assisted steering system for the trail and gave it “Raptor-style running boards and front skid plate.”
You’ll spot a Tremor thanks to badges and exterior trim bits done in a color Ford calls “Electric Space Orange” and everyone else calls yellow. The same shade decorates stitching inside, and colors the Tremor logos on the front seats.
We’ve long appreciated the Expedition’s exceptional balance of family-friendly space and hard work ethic. The Chevy Tahoe tends to outsell it with help from fleet buyers, but the Expedition can prove a better choice for many private buyers. The unique interface of the 2025 model could further that effect if it works as well with smaller screens as it does with Lincoln’s movie-theater-size setup.
We look forward to testing it to let you know for sure.
