Ford recently announced it’s investing $4.5 billion into the development of 13 electrified models that will be launched by the year 2020. Surprisingly, company CEO Mark Fields has revealed one of them will be a hybrid version of the hot-selling F-150.
Fields told NPR host Ari Shapiro that the first-ever regular-production hybrid F-150 will go on sale nationwide before the decade draws to a close. While he stopped short of providing full technical details, he revealed the drivetrain will take the form of a conventional gasoline-electric hybrid system — not a more efficient plug-in setup — that will transfer power to the rear wheels only.
Building a gasoline-electric pickup truck sounds like a bad move in a time when gas prices are hovering around $2 a gallon nationwide, but Fields is convinced the Blue Oval’s investment will pay dividends as soon as electric and hybrid cars begin gaining more traction.
“Part of our job as a company and as an automotive manufacturer and now as a mobility company, is to think of what the world is going to look like five, 10 and even 15 years from now,” explained the executive.
What’s next?
Buyers who don’t want to wait until 2020 to buy a more fuel efficient F-150 are in luck, because Ford is currently testing a fuel-sipping version of the truck powered by a 3.0-liter V6 turbodiesel engine that’s bolted to a 10-speed automatic transmission. Tentatively scheduled to make its debut in the second half of next year, the truck could return over 30 mpg in a mixed cycle.
Photos by Mark Elias.
Leave a Reply