Though Ford is currently embarking on a major electrification pivot, the automaker isn’t planning on ditching ICE-powered vehicles just yet. In fact, Ford’s EV plan is currently focused on its “icons” and commercial vehicles, as well as vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of under 8,500 pounds. That excludes the Ford Super Duty, and as Kumar Galhotra, Ford Blue president, told Ford Authority back in November of 2020, the automaker had no plans to build an all-electric version of that particular model at that time. However, it seems that nothing has changed on that front either, as Ford CEO Jim Farley confirmed during the automaker’s recent Q1 earnings call with investors.
“I just want to say, on the Super Duty, obviously that’s a quarter of our profitability as a company globally. And when we look at the customer usage, we just don’t feel at this point that an electric solution is going to be ideal for most of those customers,” Farley said. “So our vehicles, plural, will be really focused on light-duty and the lower end of Super Duty for sure, but not F-250, F-350, F-450. That’s a whole different ball of wax. They require a lot of payload, heavy batteries. That doesn’t make sense.”
These comments jive with what Farley said about the company’s EV plans back in March – “The one thing that people need to understand is that a lot of our ICE products, those segments are not served well with electrical vehicles. If you have a Super Duty and you’re pulling a horse trailer in Montana, an electrical vehicle isn’t an ideal solution.” Regardless, Ford does plan on eventually transitioning to an all-electric lineup in North America, though that seemingly won’t happen until battery technology has advanced to the point where such a move is feasible.
As a recent study found, truck buyers are more receptive to the idea of EV pickups than ever, and Ford expects that 30 percent of full-size truck sales will consist of all-electric models by 2030, with mass adoption following just a few years later. Farley also recently confirmed that Ford is developing a second EV pickup, and admitted that the automaker’s first generation of electric offerings won’t be profitable.
We’ll have more on the Super Duty soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford F-Series news, Ford Super Duty news, and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
Comment
I think there is a case for at least a traditional hybrid powertrain or at most a PHEV powertrain option, primarily for F-250s. Everywhere I’ve lived over the past couple of decades, you see lots of contractors, landscapers, and such, who are tooling around in F-250s and not stressing the limits of the truck. Why not give them an option that gives better gas mileage?
Would I want to see a hybrid or PHEV powertrain as the sole powertrain? No. But it would make sense to offer it as an option.
I would’ve been a customer for that kind of powertrain. Less than 40 miles per day on my Ram 1500 and I mostly carted bulky items around in the bed. A hybrid would’ve been great and a PHEV (assuming >40 miles of electric range) would’ve been perfect.