In my personal 2025 Ford Explorer ST, I monitored carbon dioxide levels and found they significantly increased when utilizing the air conditioning system, even with the fresh air setting activated.
2025 Ford Explorer ST's Climate Control System Prioritises Cooling Efficiency Over Air Quality
The 2025 Ford Explorer ST, a family-friendly SUV with enthusiast-level performance, has a climate control system that prioritises cooling efficiency by defaulting to recirculated air when the A/C is set to AUTO mode, especially during high ambient temperatures. This design choice reduces the intake of outside air to maximise temperature control and humidity reduction inside the cabin.
Lars Remsen, an owner of a 2025 Ford Explorer ST, discovered that this system can lead to a rapid increase in CO2 levels inside the vehicle. In a test, he observed that CO2 levels rose from around 400 parts per million (PPM) to over 1600 PPM in less than 10 minutes. This was observed when the climate system was set to AUTO (2/3) and the fresh/recirculate setting was on fresh. However, the system was recirculating air despite the setting.
To get fresh air, the vehicle must be run on manual fan speed and manual vent outlets. This finding by Lars Remsen may be the beginning of a new conversation about vehicle air quality as vehicles become more automated, sealed, and software-governed.
The 2025 Ford Explorer ST is equipped with a 3.0 L twin-turbo V6 engine, producing around 400 hp and 415 lb-ft of torque. This engine delivers significantly sharper acceleration and higher towing ability compared to the standard turbo-4 engine. The official 0-60 mph time for the ST version of the 2025 Ford Explorer ST is around 5.2 seconds.
The towing capacity of the 2025 Ford Explorer ST is rated up to 5,000-5,300 lb depending on configuration. The curb weight of the vehicle is around 4,457 lb.
Noah Washington, an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia, has been covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars since he was 15 years old. He has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. Washington's take on the 2025 Ford Explorer ST is yet to be published.
The override has real physiological consequences, even in normal driving conditions. Excessive CO2 levels can cause symptoms like fatigue, headaches, and reduced alertness. The repeatability of Remsen's test findings gives them some weight.
Lars Remsen built a USB-C air-quality sensor to monitor CO2, temperature, and humidity levels in the vehicle. The sensor has color coding (green/yellow/red) for the numeric value and the line graph, with time periods on the graph from 2 minutes to 12 hours.
The 2025 Ford Explorer ST Performance Trim is a new addition to the Explorer lineup, designed to inject more sport-oriented driving dynamics and compete in the performance-SUV segment.
In summary, the Explorer ST's climate system favours recirculated air to optimise cooling efficiency, leading to an unintended consequence of accumulating CO2 inside the vehicle unless overridden by manual ventilation controls. This is a trade-off common in climate control design aimed at quickly or efficiently cooling the cabin during hot weather but requires user awareness to balance with air quality needs.
- In the future conversation about vehicle air quality, the emphasis might shift towards integrating environmental-science principles into health-and-wellness considerations, ensuring optimal air quality inside vehicles like the 2025 Ford Explorer ST.
- As technology advances and vehicles become increasingly software-governed, finance might play a critical role in encouraging automakers like Ford to prioritize health-and-wellness features, such as continually monitoring and improving air quality within their vehicles.
- In connection with the environmental-science movement, sports enthusiasts could lobby for the inclusion of health-focused technology in their vehicles, such as advanced climate control systems that prioritize both cooling efficiency and air quality, like the one found in the 2025 Ford Explorer ST.
