Ford Teases New, Nameless EV with PHEV Performance

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Ford has confirmed, affirmed, and re-affirmed that the first EV to roll off its long awaited “Universal Electric Vehicle” platform will be a mid-sized electric pickup truck. The name still remains a closely guarded secret, but a recently dropped hint indicates that Ranchero is in the running. Wait, what’s wrong with Ranger?

Looking To The Past For Clues

The Ranchero angle surfaced in Ford Authority last year, based on a trademark filing by Ford. Considering the state of political and civic affairs in the US, Ranchero would be a bit of a spicy name choice at this moment in time. Commonly understood to mean “rancher” in English, ranchero also refers to food associated with living on a ranch, huevos rancheros being one example.

On the other hand, the Ranchero name slots neatly into Ford’s newly launched Universal EV platform, which represents a soup-to-nuts makeover of the company’s manufacturing systems. Likewise, the original Ranchero represented something new and different in the US automotive market. “Introduced in 1957 as a truck version of the Ford Custom sedan, the seven generations of Ranchero lived on until 1979 and shared underpinnings with iconic cars like the Falcon, Fairlane, Torino and LTD models,” explains the staff of the nonprofit organization MotorCities National Heritage Area.

“Designed as a coupe utility the Ranchero was the first of its kind that integrated the cab and cargo bed into the body,” they add.

“Based on Ford’s full-size passenger car platform, the car-based pickup created an entirely new niche in the American automotive market,” they emphasize.

Looking Across The Pond For Clues

If Ranger is in the running, Ford may be laying the groundwork in Europe, where it sells a plug-in hybrid version of the familiar Ranger pickup truck. As for why not market the PHEV here in the US, that’s a good question. Auto Week is among the auto industry news organizations to ask, and the answer is pretty straightforward.

“Ford made it clear that ‘ the Ranger PHEV ‘is only available for select global markets outside of North America, where we are seeing stronger demand for this powertrain,’” Auto Week reported earlier this year, adding that “Ford said the Ranger plug-in hybrid—and the related Ranger Super Duty pickup—’aren’t coming to America’ because its existing domestic lineup already offers electrified alternatives.’”

Hybrid EVS Outperform Conventional Generators

Be that as it may, Ford’s pitch for the Ranger PHEV in Europe underscores the kind of benefits one would expect from a fully electric pickup truck in the US market.

On June 29, the European edition of the company’s “Ford From The Road” media window posted a detailed article comparing a conventional 4-kilowatt generator against a Ranger PHEV equipped with Ford’s Pro Power Onboard system.

Ford writer Kyle Shearer begins with the obvious. For working trucks, electrification is a space-saver that eliminates the need to haul a gas-fueled generator around, along with extra fuel.

That’s all well and good, but the question is whether or not there is anything to be gained by running the engine of a PHEV to produce power for the electrical systems. The answer lies in Europe’s strict vehicle emissions standards, compared to those that apply to generators and other non-road engines.

“For businesses with duty of care, we also wanted to show the health implications of using a generator or replacing it with Pro Power Onboard,” Shearer emphasizes, taking note of European standards for nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons, which are hazardous to individual health, alongside carbon dioxide emissions that are hazardous to the Earth.

The difference in engine emissions between vehicles and generators can be extreme, Ford discovered. Based on tests at an emissions facility in Europe, Ford reported that a 4kW generator emitted 15 times more NOX than the Pro Power Onboard system in low power mode, soaring up to 9,000 times more at high power. Concurrent with the increase in power, the Ranger’s anti-emissions systems kicked up, reducing the vehicle’s NOX emissions to zero.

The EV Advantage: Money Talks

A similar gap appears in the other health-related pollutants. The generator produced up to 1,200  times the amount of CO compared to the Ranger at high power, and more than 110 times more hydrocarbons (aka airborne particles and soot).

CO2 emissions proved to be somewhat stickier, though ultimately the Ranger prevailed. “From a cold start, the Ranger PHEV emitted more CO2 than the generator for the same power output. However, within five minutes the engine and exhaust systems were up to temperature and from then, as soon as you need over 2 kW of power, the generator produces more CO2,” Shearer noted.

While some may be uninterested in improving human health and/or saving the Earth, the bottom line of saving money is universal. On that score, Ford reported that the PHEV beat the diesel generator under various scenarios, including one least favorable to EVs.

“Even if you have an empty battery and start Ranger PHEV’s engine from cold, running Pro Power Onboard is more efficient. With Ranger PHEV up to temperature, Pro Power Onboard uses half as much fuel as the generator — and once the engine only switches on to maintain the battery level, your fuel cost becomes just one-third that of the generator,” Shearer summarizes.

What Will It Be: A New Ford Ranger EV, A Ranchero, Or Something Else?

Of course, populating the Europe with more hybrid EVs is not an optimal solution while catastrophic climate change descends upon the Earth in real time. Replacing conventional generators with something less polluting and more fuel efficient is a rather modest goal, considering the urgent need for action. Perhaps now that the tennis community has been alerted to the danger (see grass: Wimbledon) the pace of decarbonization will pick up.

In the meantime, Ford is among the automakers looking forward to a rebound in the 100% battery EV market in the US. For legacy automakers like Ford, capitalizing on name recognition is a safe bet, whether it’s Ranger, Ranchero, or something other than Edsel.

Don’t just take our word for it. Last August, Car and Driver reporter Jack Fitzgerald surveyed the state of play shortly after Ford unveiled the new Universal EV platform.

“Official details on the next-generation EV platform are light, but we know Ford wanted it to be capable of supporting several body styles, he noted. “One style in particular that we expect to see is a Ranger-sized pickup. That could be where the Ranchero trademark comes in.”

Thoughts? Drop a note in the comment thread…

Image: Ford has yet to name its much-anticipated 100% electric mid-sized pickup truck for the US market, but the company’s hybrid EV activity in Europe could provide a clue (courtesy of Ford From The Road).