Ford teases all-electric Ranger for the first time

Friday, 28 May 2021

Watch Ford reveal the all-new, all-electric F-150 Lighting.

Ford has divulged some details about the various electric vehicles it is working on, and it seems those wanting an electric Ranger are in luck.

Product communications manager, Mike Levine, shared a handful of images on Twitter recently, showing the new Global Electrified 2 (GE2) platform along with the outlines of some vehicles that could ride on the architecture.

It looks like Ford is indeed planning an electric Bronco and Ranger, along with a Transit Connect panel and passenger van and the next-gen Mustang Mach-E, as well as the Mustang pony car.

That looks remarkably Ranger-like, doesn’t it?

The Bronco uses the current Ranger’s ladder chassis construction, which makes it a bit odd that Ford won’t convert it to right-hand drive, though it is understandable that a conversion is quite a lot of work.

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We don’t get the Bronco here, which is odd considering it uses the same platform as the locally sold Ranger. Maybe we’ll get the EV version?

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The skateboard platform beneath the F-150 Lightning might be just scalable enough to use for an electric Ranger. Or, at least, the second-gen version.

* Ford plans to develop and produce electric vehicle batteries

* Ford begins early production of not-yet-announced small pickup truck

* Can Ford's Bronco take on Jeep's Wrangler?

Putting both on the same EV platform would remove a lot of work, as there aren’t nearly as many mechanical things to switch around, and allow Ford to develop both at the same time.

Ford is also developing its next-generation electric truck platform, called TE1, which will underpin new versions of the F-150 Lightning, Expedition as well as the Lincoln Navigator.

There is a chance this will be scalable and Ford uses it for the electric Ranger instead of the GE2. It looks like GE2 will be a unibody construction while TE2 will likely be an evolution of the F-150 Lightning’s skateboard chassis, which has already undergone extensive off-road testing.

There’s no word yet on when any of these vehicles will hit showrooms but, earlier this year, a Ford spokesperson confirmed its commercial range – which includes Ranger – will be “zero-emissions capable” by 2024.

The new Ranger is due to be revealed this year which means we could see a plug-in version or even a fully electric ute sooner than we thought.

Finally, as part of the new Ford+ plan, the American builder will form a partnership with SK Innovation of South Korea to build batteries. It will centre around two manufacturing facilities in the United States and three battery types: lithium-ion, lithium-iron-phosphate (a.k.a. LFP), and solid-state batteries.

Ford also wants EVs to make up 40 per cent of its global sales by 2030.