Cars on UK roads
How many Ford Explorer cars are on UK roads?
21,680 Ford Explorer cars were licensed in Great Britain at the end of June 2026, with another 766 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT and DVLA licensing statistics. That is up 110.8% on a year earlier and 0.6% of all licensed Ford cars, making it number 14 of the 17 Ford models listed here and number 226 of 408 models nationally.
Data to 2026-06-30 · Page updated 2026-09-28 · Publisher: 73 Auto
- Licensed in GB
- 21,680
- end of June 2026, DfT VEH0120
- Change in a year
- +110.8%
- all cars: +1.5%
- Typical year of first use
- 2025
- median, UK, 31 Dec 2025 (all cars: 2016)
What the numbers say about the Ford Explorer
The number of Ford Explorers on the road is up 110.8% on a year earlier, ahead of the +1.5% for all cars and ahead of Ford as a whole (−2.6%). That is the highest quarter-end figure in the series, which starts in June 2016.
11,858 Ford Explorers were first registered in the UK from July 2025 to June 2026, 100% of them battery electric.
99% of licensed Ford Explorers are battery electric, against 6% of all cars. Electric and plug-in hybrid versions make up 99.3% (all cars: 8.8%).
1% of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2015 or earlier (all cars: 44%), and 3.4% of registered Ford Explorers are SORN against 9.9% of all cars.
Ford Explorers licensed, year by year
Official data: cars licensed (taxed, or exempt and on the road) in Great Britain at the end of each June. The peak in this series was 21,680 at the end of June 2026, the latest quarter, so numbers are still at their highest.
| Quarter end | Licensed | Change on a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | 21,680 | +110.8% |
| June 2025 | 10,283 | +4410.1% |
| June 2024 | 228 | −21.4% |
| June 2023 | 290 | −15.7% |
| June 2022 | 344 | −18.5% |
| June 2021 | 422 | −15.8% |
| June 2020 | 501 | −24.7% |
| June 2019 | 665 | −21.1% |
| June 2018 | 843 | −18.9% |
| June 2017 | 1,039 | −18.3% |
| June 2016 | 1,272 | — |
Ford Explorers by fuel type
| Fuel (DfT category) | Licensed | Share | All cars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battery electric | 21,519 | 99.3% | 5.9% |
| Petrol | 155 | 0.7% | 54.3% |
How old Ford Explorers on the road are
Official data from DfT table VEH0124: cars licensed and SORN at 31 December 2025 in the whole UK, by the year the car was first used (for a car imported used, that is its first use abroad). This table is annual and UK-wide, so its total (16,800 licensed) differs from the quarterly Great Britain figure.
| First used | Licensed | Share of licensed | SORN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 12,112 | 72.1% | 9 |
| 2024 | 4,522 | 26.9% | 79 |
| 2017 | 1 | 0.0% | 0 |
| 2005 and earlier | 165 | 1.0% | 716 |
Other Ford models on UK roads
| Model | Licensed | Share of Ford | Change in a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Fiesta | 1,234,335 | 34.1% | −5.3% |
| Ford Focus | 842,798 | 23.3% | −6.8% |
| Ford Kuga | 368,344 | 10.2% | +3.2% |
| Ford Puma | 257,717 | 7.1% | +27.6% |
| Ford Ka | 150,087 | 4.2% | −6.2% |
| Ford Mondeo | 145,629 | 4.0% | −11.7% |
| Ford C-Max | 127,089 | 3.5% | −6.5% |
| Ford EcoSport | 106,960 | 3.0% | −1.1% |
| Ford S-Max | 59,405 | 1.6% | −9.0% |
| Ford B-Max | 50,539 | 1.4% | −2.0% |
| Ford Galaxy | 45,800 | 1.3% | −10.8% |
| Ford Fusion | 39,065 | 1.1% | −12.8% |
Limitations
Licensed means taxed or tax-exempt and allowed on the road at the quarter end; SORN cars are registered but declared off the road. DfT groups cars by its own “generic model” (FORD EXPLORER), which 73 Auto maps to the Ford Explorer as named in our list-price catalogue; body styles and derivatives sold under that name are included. The Great Britain quarterly figures and the UK annual age table are separate official tables, so their totals differ slightly.
Check a specific Ford Explorer before you buy
Enter the registration to see that Ford Explorer's own MOT history, tax status and what it will cost to run. Your first check is free and shows the vehicle summary and its headline ownership cost. The category-by-category breakdown is part of a paid check.
UK number plate or 17-character VIN
Where these figures come from
- Vehicle licensing statistics data files: VEH0120 (GB), VEH0124 and VEH0160 (UK) — Department for Transport and DVLA. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Shares, changes, rankings and the still-licensed indication (73 Auto analysis of the DfT files) — 73 Auto. Derived figures.
Figures labelled as 73 Auto estimates are our own analysis of these sources, set out in the methodology and data sources. To report a factual error, see corrections.