Seems logical
There are diesel pick-ups, there are petrol pick-ups, there are hybrid pick-ups and there are even electric pick-ups. However, a plug-in hybrid pick-up did not yet exist. They have now come up with a solution at Ford: the Ford Ranger PHEV!
It’s strange that a plug-in hybrid pick-up does not yet exist. Ford has quite good and apparently cogent arguments for it. The problem with a fully electric pick-up remains that towing heavy loads has an enormous impact on the range, which is quickly insufficient due to the height and weight of a pick-up. At the same time, commercial vehicles in more and more European cities must also preferably be emission-free. You can’t achieve that with the big diesel engine that is usually in these types of ‘compact’ pick-ups. The PHEV as an interim solution therefore seems ideally suited.
At least Ford thinks so, so it is launching a plug-in hybrid version of the new Ford Ranger launched in 2021. Ford has not yet released extensive specifications, but does report that the Ford Ranger PHEV can ‘normally’ tow 3,500 kg. The combustion engine on board does not run on diesel, but is a four-cylinder 2.3 EcoBoost petrol engine. Although the battery capacity is not known, Ford promises an electric range of ‘more than’ 45 kilometers. This can be completed in one go – more than half of customers drive no more than 40 km per day – but can also be cleverly spread over a long journey. There is a mode in which the car figures this out itself, there is a mode that uses ‘geofencing’ to know which city centers should be driven electrically and there are modes to save or even replenish the battery content while driving.
The charging port is on the left side of the cargo box, just like the fuel door.
An important advantage of a (partly) electric drivetrain in a workhorse like the Ranger is that the power on board can also be used for other things. That is why the Ranger comes with three 10A sockets, two in the cargo box and one in the cabin. Ford provides all kinds of cool applications for this, such as powering circular saws and camping equipment and charging drills and other power tools. In principle, this is also possible with a conventional pick-up, but in the case of the Ranger PHEV it works without running the engine. If the battery becomes empty during such use, the motor will automatically kick in. Smart!
For the Netherlands, the Ford Ranger PHEV has another important advantage, because due to the theoretically low CO2 emissions, the bpm will be a lot more manageable than with a diesel. BPM, yes, because it will also apply to company cars in the future. The Ford Ranger PHEV will have to wait a while: you can order from mid-2024 and the first deliveries will not take place until early 2025. The prices are not yet known.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl