Ford EV Pivot Focused On Vehicles Under 8,500-Pound GVWR – For Now

November 17, 2021 11:03 am

Ford has already committed to converting its entire passenger car lineup in Europe to EVs by 2030 or sooner, with plans to electrify its lineup in North America at some undetermined point in the future. Just last week, Ford signed a pledge to phase out fossil fuel vehicles by 2040, though as Ford Authority reported just yesterday, Ford Global Engineering Director Frank Abkenar believes that ICE-powered vehicles still have a future. Now, in a conversation with NPR, Ford’s global director of sustainability, Cynthia Williams, admitted that the ongoing Ford EV pivot will focus on vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) – the maximum operating weight or mass of a vehicle, sans anything it might be towing – of under 8,500 pounds.

“So all vehicles under 8,500 gross vehicle weight are covered under this pledge,” Williams said. “F-150 can straddle above and below that weight mark, but it definitely includes light-duty pickup trucks.”

The GVWR of the 2021 Ford F-150 varies greatly depending on configuration, but ranges from 6,010 pounds for a regular cab base model up to 7,850 pounds for a SuperCrew with either Ford’s 3.5L EcoBoost V6 or 5.0L Coyote V8. Of course, we already know that the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning is on the way as an all-electric version of the F-150, so this pledge will not apply to heavier vehicles like the Ford Super Duty.

As Ford Authority reported over a year ago, the current Ford EV plan doesn’t include adding an all-electric Super Duty to its lineup. “At the moment, we do not have any plans to go into heavy duty with battery-electric vehicles,” said Kumar Galhotra, Ford Motor Company Vice President and President of the North American region.

“The Ford strategy is to make the vehicles like the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning the most capable vehicles that we have,” Williams added. “And so it’s going to take a mindset. It’s going to take a culture change.”

We’ll have more on Ford’s electrification strategy soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.