Ford Ranger Plug-In Hybrid Going into Development by 2025
Photo: Ford
Hans Schep, Ford Motor Company’s general manager of commercial vehicles in Europe, has confirmed what we’ve long suspected. A plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger is heading into production in the near future.
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Automotive News Europe published an interview with Schep on Tuesday in which he revealed that Ford will build a zero-emissions-capable version of the Ranger by 2025. Schep would not reveal whether the truck in question would be a PHEV or a battery-electric, though Auto News refers to the upcoming Ford Ranger as a plug-in hybrid initially.
Electric midsize truck (probably Ranger) confirmed
Last week, Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer, Hau Thai-Tang, also more or less confirmed the development of a Ranger BEV. In announcing a flexible rear-wheel-drive/all-wheel-drive electric vehicle architecture, Thai-Tang said it would underpin a midsize pickup between now and 2030. That would likely be an electric version of the Ranger if not the compact Maverick truck slated to debut sometime this year.
Ford is targeting going all-electric in the near future, and it has set a 2030 deadline for a zero-emissions lineup in Europe. A plug-in hybrid or all-electric Ford Ranger would be key in that push, joining the all-new e-Transit, an electric version of the Transit Custom, and an as-yet-unnamed small electric van coming by 2024.
No Ford F-150 Lightning for Europe
Schep’s talk with Auto News Europe also yielded an interesting fact about the recently revealed F-150 Lightning. Due to the limited production volume and soaring demand in North America, it’s not likely that the truck will be offered in Europe.
Ford revealed the F-150 Lightning last month and caught a ton of buzz out of the gate. Early reservations of the all-electric F-150 topped 70,000 within the first week, virtually ensuring that the truck will hit the market next year already a massive success.
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Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.