While it’s in the midst of investing $50 billion in EVs and building numerous new electric vehicle production facilities, Ford remains committed to making hybrids for the foreseeable future too, as CEO Jim Farley previously stated. In fact, Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, expects sales of those types of vehicles to remain strong well into the next decade, particularly in markets where the infrastructure does not support significant EV adoption in the near future. While speaking during the automaker’s Q2 earnings call, Farley reiterated the fact that he expects Ford hybrid sales to grow by a large margin in the coming years, and the CEO also mentioned another interesting Ford hybrid related tidbit – that growth apparently won’t come from plug-in hybrid models.
“Yes. I want to make it really clear,” Farley said. “The term hybrid is going to…in our industry going to get a lot more complex. Hybrid could be a serial hybrid with just motor powered batteries. It could be a hybrid in the traditional sense that like the F-150 hybrid, and the hybrids I am referring to are not plug-in hybrids. They are vehicles without a plug.”
Currently, The Blue Oval produces a handful of plug-in models, including the Ford Escape PHEV, Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring, and Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring, as well as the Ford Explorer PHEV, Transit Custom PHEV, and the Kuga PHEV in Europe – where the latter model has long topped the sales charts. However, it has recently declined to add to that lineup, as a Ford Maverick PHEV is reportedly not in development, though a Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid has long been rumored to be in the works.
However, in terms of traditional Ford hybrid vehicles, there have been several added to the mix in recent months – a list that includes the all-new 2024 Lincoln Nautilus – which is now available in hybrid form – as well as the Ford Edge L in China, and the award-winning 2023 Escape, which will soon be joined by another Ford F-150 hybrid set to join the existing PowerBoost in the lineup following its upcoming debut at the 2023 Detroit Auto Show.
We’ll have more on the future of Ford hybrid models soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for continuous Ford news coverage.
Comments
Why would you not include plug-in hybrids?
Why don’t they make a longer range PHEV? A 100-mile PHEV would be very practical, imo.
Agreed. I think Toyota is mentioned that is where they will focus in the future – PHEV with 100+ miles of EV range.
Bring back the hybird Fusion, one of Ford’s best selling sedans, even as a plain hybrid.
Plug-in hybrids will reduce electrc sales, so Ford will not build them.
You are probably right. To quote another TFA article, “This downward trajectory of satisfaction should be a warning sign to manufacturers that they need to better understand what owners really want in their new vehicles.” Ford should listen to consumers and build what they want instead of trying to steer consumers down a path they won’t follow.
PHEV’s cost too much.
I love my Lincoln Corsair PHEV. If sold state batteries could even double the energy density I would be able to go 50 to 60 miles to a charge. Fortunately I can charge at work and its only 14.1 miles door to door. But a 60 mile range would be awesome for longer trips for sure.
Our Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring is one of the best cars I’ve ever owned. Work commute is handled by electric, only having to recharge every other day (from our solar panels). We only buy gasoline about every 45 days or so when we drive over to LA to visit friends/family, or on road trips.
The CEO’s quote is clear, but I wouldn’t count PHEVs out yet.
A year ago, CARB updated their regs to incentive more “strong” PHEVs starting with model year 2026. What’s a “strong PHEV?” One with 50 miles of range on the EPA window sticker and a big powerful electric motor such that the PHEV runs off electricity in nearly any “punch it” type driving situation.
What Ford does between now and model year 2026 is TBD, but that’s a mere two years away.
EV technology is not perfect and the use cases are more limited than ICE vehicles, especially when considering long-distance travel and heavy towing, but ICE vehicles come at a far greater environmental cost. That is not to say that the environmental cost of EV technology is zero, and automakers need to better understand not just established user demand of bigger and bigger vehicles (of which they are more than a little responsible for creating in the first place), but the logical use cases and the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches. To deny the many use cases of PHEV technology is clearly not doing that.
Examine the actual practical use case of a Ford Lightning (disregarding the use case of “I just want a big F’ing truck) and taking into account some recommended EV best practices. The range of a Ford Lightning is 230 miles standard and 320 miles for an extended range. You lose about 30% of that range while towing so it’s range while towing is more like 161 miles standard and 224. It is also recommended for lithium ion batteries to keep the battery between 20% and 80% and rarely drain or exceed it beyond that point in order to increase the longevity of the battery. So following those guidelines while towing with a Ford Lightning you get a practical range of 96.6 miles standard and 134.4 miles extended range without even taking into consideration terrain, weather, driving habits, and load distribution. LFP-type batteries are cheaper and do not have the same constraints as lithium-ion batteries, but they are even heavier and do not get as much range per kwh.
The Ford Lightning’s battery weighs in at 1,800 pounds and bigger batteries require a lot of critical minerals, take a lot more electricity to power, and the electric grid still relies heavily on fossil fuels. Critics of electric vehicles are not wrong, but only because of current market trends are leaning towards bigger, and bigger EV’s with longer and longer range – not because it is an inherently bad technology. Mining is bad, but it’s not any worse than drilling for oil. However, gigantic EV’s with huge range hordes critical minerals and the extraction and processing of these minerals does have negative environmental and social impacts. There is an intersection in that analysis where you aren’t doing the environmentally right thing anymore when you drive such an EV. For instance, I have read that even a Model Y charged on a legacy power grid is only as clean as the most efficient ICE vehicle.
Another article made a convincing argument that we could reduce far more carbon if everyone drove hybrids and plug-in hybrids instead because of 4 compounding reasons 1. Even though the majority of daily commutes are under 40 miles round trip, 2. most people hesitate to buy ev’s because of range anxiety and the inconvenience of finding and waiting for a charger, but 3. you could make 10 plugin hybrids or 60+ regular hybrids with the same amount of minerals that it takes to make the battery pack of one Ford Lightning, so 4. there would be less overall fuel emissions if we as a society focused on shifting everyone to hybrids rather than huge, long-range EV’s.
I am not a critic of EV or hybrid technology, I own a Chevy Bolt and have a Ford Maverick on order. I’m not even saying that nobody needs something like a Ford Lightning – it’s just a very, very small segment of truly environmentally-conscious use cases (for instance, contractors or anyone who really needs the load and tow capacity but will only drive it locally and charge at home/site >90% of the time), although nobody really needs a Hummer EV – those are gross for the environment. I drive my Bolt around town and will take my Ford Maverick Hybrid on longer trips. Yes, hybrids do not get as good mpg on the highway as they do in town but it’s a small truck that fits my family, luggage, and can even tow a bass boat. I really wanted Ford to come out with a plug-in Maverick though and if the 2025 Toyota Stout comes with a plugin hybrid option, well I might still get a good resale value for my Maverick…