Ford turns a great adventure into a fake reality TV record

There was a very beautiful story to tell about a trip in an electric car, but Ford chose to make a disappointing series out of it.

To promote its 100% electric Explorer, Ford enlisted Lexie Alford, aka LexieLimitless on social media, a travel influencer with millions of followers. First of all, we must praise the exceptional journey of this young woman born in 1998 in Nevada City, California, who holds two Guinness World Records: one for the “youngest person to have visited all sovereign countries” and the other for the “youngest woman to have visited all sovereign countries” at the age of 21 years and 177 days. If that doesn’t mean much to you, know that it amounts to visiting 196 countries before the age of 22. Quite a contrast to a typical Club Med tour!

Ford then challenged her to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a 100% electric vehicle. No suspense, she succeeded, passing through 6 continents, 27 countries, and covering more than 30,000 kilometers. This journey inspired a three-part series, “Charge Around the Globe,” broadcast on Prime Video, which we watched with curious eyes. And it was time well spent!

Ford misses the point

One source of inspiration for this trip was the feat of Aloha Wanderwell, who became the first woman to circumnavigate the world by car between 1922 and 1927. An incredible challenge she took on at just 16 years old, driving a 1918 Ford Model T. Yes, just one Ford T compared to the five Ford Explorers used by Lexie. She was provided with a brand-new vehicle at each stage, taking short flights between each road trip. While Ford doesn’t explicitly mention this in the series, it’s obvious given how impeccably clean the cars remain throughout the documentary. So, Lexie really struggled to find charging stations, which, by the way, isn’t very reassuring for future electric customers. But the absolute low point is reached when she arrives in the United States without an adapter for local charging stations… An army of logisticians and technicians mobilized to overlook this small detail, which is just silly.

If you want to discover stunning landscapes and get to know Lexie Alford, who is genuinely charming and far from the cliché of modern influencers, don’t hesitate to watch “Charge Around the Globe.” We judge harshly the substance, not the style of what is ultimately a beautiful travel documentary. It’s almost a shame that this adventure was financed by Ford…

However, if you want to see true feats with electric vehicles, we recommend “Pole to Pole”, where explorers Chris and Julie Ramsey traveled in a Nissan Ariya from the magnetic North Pole to the South Pole over more than 27,000 km in extreme conditions. It’s less well-produced but much more authentic. If you prefer two wheels, the exceptional “Long Way Up” by Ewan McGregor is a gem. The actor from Trainspotting and Star Wars, along with his partner Charley Boorman, travels around the world live on a Harley Davidson Livewire electric motorcycle. The two are experienced adventurers, having already completed a 31,000 km around-the-world trip in BMW R1150GS Adventure in “Long Way Round”. It’s always authentic, funny, and moving—everything missing from Lexie’s Ford adventure.