If you’re lucky enough to get a chance to walk around the Ford U.S. Heritage Fleet, odds are before long you’ll stumble across a vehicle you had no idea even existed. For example, the little-known 2000 Ford Ranger EV is housed as part of the collection, offering a look at a short-lived piece of Blue Oval history that was far ahead of its time.
The real-life Ford Ranger EV was marketed and sold as a fleet-only vehicle produced between 1998 and 2002. The Ranger EV was a zero-emissions vehicle, which seems mundane by today’s standards, but was quite novel for the time. Obviously, it was based on the gasoline-burning Ford Ranger pickup, and 0 almost laughably – it offered a “best-in-class” range of 60 miles on a single charge – small change compared to the upwards of 200 miles per charge expected from modern EVs.
The 2000 Ford Ranger EV utilized regenerative braking to help juice its 39-module battery pack. Power to its rear wheels was delivered by a 90 horsepower high-efficiency liquid-cooled three-phase induction motor, making it the perfect vehicle for high-speed traffic, although its top speed was governed at 75 mph. A press release from the time indicated that the Ford Ranger EV proved popular among fleet customers with “shorter, more predictable driving patterns” than retail customers. It could be charged using a 240 volt plug, and could be charged fully in approximately six hours.
“Our customers asked for an EV that drives with the safety, reliability and durability of a conventional vehicle and that’s what they’11 get with the Ranger EV,” said Bob Rewey, vice president of Ford Marketing and Sales Operations. “This vehicle incorporates the same best-in-class design features as the gasoline Ranger, with proven advanced EV technology to guarantee it is ‘Built Ford Tough.'”
The Ford Ranger EV is an interesting look at a past model that would be more at home in the lineup had it been produced 20 years later.
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