Detour #262: Going Slow in Slovenia with a Ford Explorer
A road trip in Slovenia is like journeying into a pastoral past, discovers Charlotte Vowden, even when you’re doing it in an EV of the future.
Sunning ourselves on a grassy verge in the valley of Little Creek, my co-driver, Freda, and I are in agreement; a road trip in Slovenia is like journeying into a pastoral past, except, we are doing it in an EV. Heading west on Route 641 from the country’s capital, Ljubljana, we have entered a hill-framed bucolic idyll. Showing faith in traditional farming practices, there are dairy cows grazing in pastures and timber hayracks, known as kozolecs, standing in readiness to dry this season’s crop.
As arthritic tractors work the fields, we cruise in a car of the future – Ford’s forthcoming all-electric Explorer. According to the vehicle’s vital statistics, the all-wheel drive model can motor 329 miles on a single charge, but in just under an hour we’ve only managed to clock 11.
Our enthusiasm for a photo opportunity is at the root of this meagre mileage. On this occasion, a postcard-pretty church with a bell tower, on the outskirts of a settlement named Briše, has brought us to a halt. A quick calculation reveals that at our current rate of progress it will take us 30 hours to find out if the Explorer’s 79kWh Extended Range powertrain can go as far as it has pledged. The rollerskiers that swoop along the tarmac past us would probably get to where they were going way before we would. Not that it matters, nor do we care.
Slovenia, a country at Europe’s geographical heart, is unchartered territory for both of us, and after a breakfast featuring doughy, (and moreish), walnut dumplings, I’m appreciative of the £54k SUV’s soothing ride. The same can’t be said for its massaging seat. A prerogative afforded to the driver, it feels hideous – too hard and too distracting – so I’m happy to tick off the experience just the once.
From Briše, our route runs parallel to the Mala Voda, a cold water stream inhabited by rainbow trout, and leads us upwards and into a forest that Tolkien would have written about in one of his stories. Dense with beech trees, lofty elms and evergreen pines, it is enchanting; even the roadside gullies are thick with textured ferns.
A right turn onto Route 407 reintroduces us to the majesty of Slovenia’s expanse. Chiefly beguiled by the natural beauty, we rarely push the pace of our 335bhp vehicle on the quiet and plentiful sweeps and straights. The Explorer will do a respectable 0-62mph in 5.3 seconds, but slowing things down on the switchbacks as we approach the former mining town of Todraž, the SUV's regenerative braking is remarkably sleek. So too is the Explorer’s Bang and Olufsen sound system, which we use to create an acoustic barrier against the rumble of the road.
Disturbing the peace, and possibly pro-creation, we groove our way through Gorenja Vas in the Poljane Sora Valley. As the town with the highest birth rate in Slovenia, it’s even got a, rather suggestive, fountain of love. Heading east, we take the 210 towards Vodice, and settle into a mellow, meandering flow. The impeccably kept tarmac juxtaposes the jagged alpine mountains ahead of us on the horizon. If we come back, we’ll certainly head for those heights.
A meal at the 250-year-old homestead, Dvor Jezeršek, awaits us in Zgornji Brnik. It’s there and then that we return the keys. Our time-warp media test drive concluded, our curiosity for further road-tripping in Slovenia, commenced. With distances between highlights delightfully short, it has been a win taken easily for Ford’s all-electric Explorer. Would it be a worthy and able accomplice on a more ambitious journey? It takes approximately four hours to drive across Slovenia, so there’s only one way to find out…
Words Charlotte Vowden Instagram
Photography Charlotte Vowden & Ford