Ford Ranger PHEV Debuts in Europe and You Can’t Have It In the U.S.

A new Ford Ranger PHEV has debuted in Europe with up to 35 miles of fully-electric range and it is not coming to the U.S. Yup. But, you also probably won’t want to spend the money on it anyway.

Ford Ranger PHEV Debuts

Ford is offering its Ranger PHEV in Europe — a smart move since the Ranger has been Europe’s top selling truck for a decade. Officially called the Ford Ranger MS-RT PHEV,  the marketing talks a lot about motorsport-inspired design and other nebulous terms for unimportant stuff that makes the truck more expensive (even if some of it does look cool) but what does this plug-in hybrid vehicle really offer? Well, at its heart, it’s simply a Ford Ranger with an integrated, secondary electric powertrain added, along with some nice trim options and a new name. 

Performance wise, you get the same base 2.3L EcoBoost internal combustion engine, with an added 75 kW electric motor and an 11.8 kWh battery capable of driving up to 40 km (just shy of 25 miles) without engaging that IC engine. Ford promises 281 PS and 697 Nm of torque ² (that’s about 277 hp and 514 lbs-ft of torque, supposing I got my conversions to Freedom Units right) — the highest available torque on a production Ranger model, as Ford points out!

What is a PHEV (Plug-In Hybrid)?

In case you aren’t familiar, let’s do a quick primer on what a PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) is, and who they’re for. To keep it brief, PHEV’s are an attempt to get the best of all worlds — the extreme mileage of a hybrid, the convenience of gas-powered refueling, and the economy of being able to plug-in for a charge and run purely off battery power. You also get more power than typically anemic hybrid vehicles, which is a big deal for trucks, in particular. 

The big tradeoff? Cost. PHEVs can add a steep premium as compared to less exotic options — models can easily cost $10k to $15k more than similar non PHEV models! You’ll have to decide if that premium is worth it to keep your daily commute gas-free while still allowing you to roam the country at will, secure in the knowledge that any filling station can keep you rolling. But, if your commute is fairly short and you can plug in on both ends, you might be able to go months between fill ups.

Ford’s US Ranger Offerings

Ford offers a few different Ranger options in the US, but none are electric or PHEV. What you can get is a variety of packages offering a 2.3-liter internal combustion engine (on the base Ranger XL); a 2.7-liter V6 (XLT and Lariat variants); or a 3.0-liter V6 in the top-of-the-line Raptor. The 2.3-liter engine models offer 270 horsepower and 310 lbs-ft of torque; bump that to 315 horsepower and 400 lbs-ft for the 2.7-liter; the Ranger’s 3.0-liter engine tops out at 405 horsepower and 430 lbs-ft of torque. 

Mileage Comparison

It’s hard to make direct, useful comparisons on a lot of this due to the differing use cases and variety of options, but I can certainly try! Let’s consider the US Ranger options in the best possible light: according to the government’s official mileage estimates, you can expect to get a city/highway combined 23 MPG from the most efficient Ranger (that’s the 2.3-liter, with a 4×2 drive train). The PHEV Ranger MS-RT gets you to an estimated 6.6 l/100 km WLTP, which translates to roughly 35 MPG in Freedom Units (again, if I didn’t screw up the math). That’s a pretty sizable increase, and it doesn’t even take into account the savings you can get by driving electric-only whenever possible. 

Cost Comparison

That boost does come at a price though — the price range for the US Rangers runs from $33,350 for the cheapest XL model to the most expensive base model configuration Raptor edition, which starts at $56,070. Pricing for the PHEV Ranger is a little more nebulous, with UK estimated pricing reported at about £55,000–£60,000 ($74K-$80.5K US). That’s a huge difference in pricing, so it’s hard to say what the PHEV might cost if it was offered here. Wherever it landed, there’s every reason to expect it to be more expensive than a similarly outfitted gas-powered option.