The 2023 Ford Ranger is set to arrive in Australian showrooms in just a few months, June to be exact. It’ll have petrol and diesel engines, but the electrified models won’t be too far behind. In Europe, a plug-in hybrid version of the new Ranger was spotted testing, which is where it’s expected to launch first.
Ford Ranger: Electrification Details
The chief engineer for the Ranger globally, Ian Foston, spoke with Drive during a media preview and stated that Ford is “looking at all the technology we are deploying at Ford” so that it could be applied to the new Ranger. The new T6.2 platform, which underpins the P703 Ranger, was designed to be able to adjust to customer demand. Foston went on to say that the new Ford Ranger is capable of implementing full electrification. At this this point, Ford Motor Company just needs to decide at what point during the vehicle’s generation they want to deploy different types of electrification. Previous reports have alleged that a Ford Ranger hybrid would at least make it to Europe, and possibly the United States.
As far as being on the record, Fost stated that Ford has yet to decide whether or not this generation of the Ranger would adopt a fully electric option sometime over the next ten years or so. Most sales in 180 countries are in developing regions where petrol and diesel energy are still favored. But Ford has made sure to “future proof” the platform, so it’s capable of equipping whatever powertrain is needed by demand. Of course, ten years is a long time, and in an industry that is constantly changing, who knows what could happen.
As Ford has done with the development of the new Ranger, they are doing research with customers to get an idea about the acceptance of different types of electrification. We’re most likely going to see different Rangers in other countries, as European and North American countries are pushing towards electrification.
Image via Ford
