Ford Motor Company's all-time best selling vehicle, the F-series pickup truck, will have a newly refreshed design for the 2021 or 2022 model year. For the first time in more than 20 years, an all-electric Ford truck will again be part of the line-up. Blue Oval engineers have been stingy with details, but the new Electric Ford F-150 promises to offer an excellent battery range, towing capabilities, and innovative technology.
Ford's Previous Electric Pickup Truck
In 1998, Ford introduced an electric version of the popular light truck, the Ford Ranger. In those days, battery technology did not allow drivers very much in terms of range. Ford produced around 1,500 electric Rangers between 1997 and 2002. However, the company recalled and crushed most of the trucks when the project was canceled. A few -maybe as few as 200- still survive today.
In 1998, Ford engineers took a stock Ranger like this one and installed an electric motor and battery pack. The EV Ranger could be identified by the plug cover in the grille near the headlight.The earliest Ford electric trucks used dozens of lead-acid car batteries to provide power. The electric pickup had a functional range of around 70 miles. Ford began using nickel-metal halide (NiMH) batteries in 1999 that increased range to about 82 miles. To date, Ford engineers have not yet released range figures for the upcoming F-150, but experts have hinted that anything less than 300 miles would be a disaster.
The Electric Truck by Ford
A recent report from CarandDriver.com identified a patent application by Ford for the functional front trunk. The "frunk" is a much-loved benefit of electric vehicles. Many cars use the space normally taken up by an engine as a small trunk. It appears Ford engineers have applied to patent a "frunk" for the new F-150. The "frunk" will be accessible with or without opening the hood and features two slide-out bins.
Unfortunately, details about the size of battery packs have not been released by Ford. A good indicator of what should be expected is to look at the soon-to-be-released Rivian R1T. Ford is a major sponsor of Rivian and plans to share technology, so it would make sense if the electric F-150 is similar.
Rivian R1T
The Rivian R1T could be the first modern electric pickup truck on the market. The Michigan-based company plans to have EV pickups available for sale during 2020. Initially, 135 and 185 kWh battery packs would respectively provide 230 and more than 300 miles of range. The 185 kWh-powered truck should be capable of three-second 0-60 times. However, the Rivian R1T is somewhat smaller than the current Ford F-Series so even larger and more powerful batteries might be used on the latter.
Ford Building Electric Vehicles In All Ranges
The EV F-150 will be joined by a hybrid-drive model, but these two will become part of a broader future lineup of electric vehicles. Ford will introduce the crossover SUV Mustang Mach-E in 2020 and an EV version of the Ford Focus compact car that ended production in 2018. Also, Ford released an all-electric version of the company's delivery van, the Ford Transit would complete the lineup.
The all-electric F-150 will join several other electric and hybrid vehicles in the current lineup.Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Hackett is serious about all-electric technology. But Ford will also produce a broad range of hybrid and plug-in models. In Europe, Ford has already partnered with Volkswagen Group to produce two all-electric vehicles using technology designed by Volkswagen. Hackett and Ford have set aside $11.5 billion through 2022 to develop electric and hybrid technology around the world.
Ford and Rivian
FoMoCo contributed $500 million to Rivian to help jump-start their R1T all-electric truck. Rivian owns manufacturing plants that produce and assemble battery packs for EVs. Ford has announced that it plans to build and assemble the battery packs for its trucks in Michigan, in their factory. Rivian will share technology with Ford as part of the agreement.
The unconventional Rivian R1T should be one of the first electric trucks on the market. Ford and Rivian have partnered to share technology to produce electric pickup trucks.The Rivian R1T does not look like anything on the market today. Rivian claims that the four-motor all-electric truck offers superior off-road capabilities, particularly at angles of 45 degrees! Not a small claim.
When the Ford F-150 is released, chances are that it will look very similar to the petrol- and diesel-powered versions. Keeping it similar is likely a smart decision. The F-series has been the best selling truck in the U.S. for more than 40 consecutive years. The manufacturer has built a solid reputation for producing dependable, durable, and hard-working trucks, and there should be no reason to believe that the new electric F-150 will be any different.
Ford Demonstrates the Electric F-150
In the summer of 2019, Ford produced a video showing a prototype of the electric F-150 towing a train loaded with 42 petrol-powered F-150 trucks. The total weight of the train was calculated at about 1.25 million pounds. The electric Ford pickup is shown in the video easily pulling the massive train, a feat that seems impossible.
The demonstration of the pulling power of the electric F-150 was very cool to watch. However, it is a stunt that could easily be duplicated by most full-size trucks today. Jason Fenske at RoadandTrack.com quickly pointed out that all Ford engineers did was to take advantage of physics.
The reason this stunt does not demonstrate much about the electric F-150 is due to the rolling resistance of the train. Fenske writes in his article that the amount of force needed to move an object depends on the weight of the object, the weight of the pulling vehicle, and the rolling coefficient. To put it simply, the Ford only needed to exert 1,875 pounds of force to move the train. If Ford had done the test on a sled, like in a tractor pull, the F-150 and every other truck on the planet would simply have smoked the tires to death.
What You Can Expect From the New Electric F-150
Ford needs a sales success to justify the massive amount of money spent to develop an electric pickup truck. Simply being electric won't be good enough if buyers can get an F-150 that works harder for less money. A major issue that Ford encountered while producing the electric Ranger in 1998 was the cost. At more than $50,000, the electric Ranger was twice the cost of a gasoline-powered pickup. The base Ranger had far superior range, towing, and hauling capabilities. All without the unknown issues that come from an innovative powertrain.
The Ford F-150 Raptor is one of Ford's most powerful models. The all-electric F-150 will likely have more power and accelerate faster than the current Raptor.Ford's current F-150 Raptor is likely to be among the trucks Ford engineers are comparing the new electric F-150 to while developing the technology to produce it. The Raptor makes a good comparison because it is the highest performance F-150 on the market today. The Raptor is significantly different from other F-150 products, and buyers typically use Raptor trucks differently than most F-series trucks.
The 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor produces 450 horsepower and can tow up to 8,000 pounds. The retail sticker price of $52,000 is likely to be similar to what buyers should expect from the new electric Ford F-150. If the Rivian R1T is an example of the amount of power Ford intends to get out of the electric F-150, the pickup could have more than 700 equivalent horsepower.
Experts believe the electric F-150 will use a battery pack that takes up most of the floor of the truck, similar to the designs used by Tesla. This may give the electric truck a taller ride height but a lower center of gravity. Furthermore, the electric F-150 may be more agile than it's gasoline contemporary.
When Will the Electric F-150 be For Sale?
Ford hasn't mentioned a release date of the new electric F-150. Industry experts believe the pickup will come along with the anticipated redesign expected in 2021. Ford expects to roll out a hybrid-drive version of the F-150 that same year, but that truck should be on the market well before the electric version.