Ford CEO Jim Farley often talks about how the automaker wants to electrify its most iconic vehicles, a process that’s well underway with the Ford Mustang Mach-E and forthcoming 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning. But another icon under the Blue Oval’s umbrella is undoubtedly the Ford Bronco, a vehicle that’s returning this summer following a quarter-century absence. It would seem that an all-electric Ford Bronco is inevitable, which is why we found Farley’s recent Twitter exchange with a shareholder to be rather interesting.
Why do you think we dont?
— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) May 10, 2021
Farley’s response is both interesting and a bit strange at the same time, but as usual, we’re forced to read between the lines here. And it’s quite obvious that the Blue Oval boss is essentially saying that an all-electric Ford Bronco is in the plans, it just isn’t quite ready yet. This is understandable considering the fact that Ford is only just beginning to dip its toe into the EV market.
Clearly, Farley is a big believer in EVs. He recently said that a considerable market exists for the Ford F-150 Lightning, and the automaker previously announced that it was doubling its investment in EVs and even opened its own battery research and development center with an eye toward building batteries in-house in the future.
We also know that a hybrid Bronco is on the way, as we recently spotted a Bronco Warthog prototype out testing with obvious cues that point to an electrified powerplant. The next-gen 2023 Ford Ranger -which shares the Ford T6 platform with the Bronco – is also rumored to be introducing a plug-in hybrid option.
Finally, we must also consider that Jeep recently revealed an all-electric Wranger concept – dubbed “Magneto,” that looks to be a possible follow-up to its new Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid. As the Wrangler is the Bronco’s main competitor, it makes perfect sense that Ford might want to go toe-to-toe with Jeep in the world of electrified off-road SUVs.
We’ll have more on the Bronco very soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Bronco news and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
Comments
B=How about the Gas job I ordered?
Have Robert Redford reprise his Electric Horseman role for the TV ad.
Just what we need… another stupid EV.
Can we send Farley and Musk on a one way trip to Mars?
Very nice but where is the 5.0 with a 6 spd manual?
they would/will have to make the interesting decision to pair the electric motors with a transmission instead of direct output to each wheel. The thing about offroaders is the range of gear ratios required. Sometimes you need to crawl, other times you need to haul balls. At least electric motors have the torque to be very capable.
Estimated fuel consumption of the 2.3L I4 badlands with the sasquatch package and manual transmission (my build) is only 16 mpg combined. Not in love with the 4 cylinder or gas mileage. i would consider an EV bronco in the future if they pair it with the manual transmission with that nasty high gear ratio.
“they would/will have to make the interesting decision to pair the electric motors with a transmission instead of direct output to each wheel. The thing about offroaders is the range of gear ratios required. Sometimes you need to crawl, other times you need to haul balls.”
The even more interesting thing about electric motors is that they are capable of doing both without gears and with no loss of all that torque. Why would you dumb-down a very capable technology and kill some of that torque and power by putting it through a manual transmission?!? That’s just foolish.
The tweet says opinion, not option. The reply indicates that there is an opinion, but does not specify what it is.