Electrified Ford Ranger study underway

An electrified version of the new 2022 Ford Ranger is under study for the Australian market.

The latest generation of the top-selling locally-developed ute now rolling into Aussie showrooms has been engineered with electric-assisted powertrains in mind.

Both the new Ranger and its forthcoming Ford Everest SUV stablemate have been confirmed by the Blue Oval brand as being mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid capable.

Neither vehicle comes with such technology at launch here.

But Ford Australia president and CEO Andrew Birkic admitted an electrified Ranger was of interest.

“Electrification is an investment we are looking at and that’s all I am going to say,” he said.

“But given everything we see globally and everything see from government, industry, it’s an important shift.”

Separately, Ford in Europe has trademarked the Ranger Lightning name, underlining further the expectation the car-maker will soon have a pure-electric version of the Ford Ranger.

The EV Ranger could be based on the current vehicle’s T6 architecture or it could be underpinned by a bespoke frame being developed in the US.

The Lightning name is already applied to the Ford F-150 EV. The small Maverick ute has received the Lightning trademark in Europe too.

Ford’s joint-venture partner Volkswagen has also confirmed that the incoming new Ranger-based 2023 Volkswagen Amarok has been “made for electrification”.

Ford Australia has committed to launching five electrified vehicles by the end of 2024. Three of them have already been accounted for: the Escape PHEV SUV that’s already on sale, the Ford E-Transit that is due this year and the smaller E-Transit Connect that is due in late 2023.

A variety of models could complete the first five: the Escape hybrid, the Mustang Mach-E, the F-150 Lightning or maybe even an electrified Ranger.

Globally there is strong interest in EV utes. Apart from the sold-out F-150 Lightning, other recent launches include the Rivian R1T, Chevrolet Silverado EV and the Chinese Radar RD6.

Asked if it was important to be among the first to market with an electrified ute, Birkic demurred.

“I think it’s important to be right and have something that allows you to meet your customer demands because a lot of these customers tow, they carry, they are fleet vehicles,” he said.

“We are also going to see investments in infrastructure.

“In Australia there is still a lot of upside when it comes to electrification. We are seeing more and more players and more and more platforms and we are starting to see a shifting across fleet and government as well as a percentage of their portfolio.

“But a lot of customers will need internal combustion engines for specific applications.”

The Ranger launches in Australia with a new 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine and two versions of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel. The Ranger Raptor comes with a twin-turbo petrol V6 and a turbo-petrol four-cylinder is offered overseas.

Ranger arrives at a time when fuel prices are spiralling and the political sentiment towards electrified vehicles has risen in the wake of the election of the Albanese Labor government.

“We know the importance of it [electrification],” said Birkic. “We have seen the change of government … it’s been a key platform for them.

“Globally it continues to be increasingly important. We have seen it in New Zealand. We are well aware of it.”

See our review of the Ford Ranger Wildtrak V6 here.

For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales' Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast

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