2021 Ford F-150 hybrid
Seen it can tow up to 14,000# and the electric motor can act as a generator producing between 2.4-7.2 kilowatts depending on configuration. Sounds like a good match for RV owners.
Forum Discussion
colliehauler wrote:
Isn't the battery/electric motor more of a temporary boost for like climbing a hill or passing another vehicle?
That's what the discussion is about.
Traditional Hybrids did just that. The battery would give a boost when there was a high power demand such as accelerating from a stop light of climbing a hill. Then when power demand drops, the engine recharges the battery for the next surge. This allows the engine to spend more of it's time at it's most efficient power output improving efficiency.
This truck appears to be a traditional Hybrid. With 1.5kWH of batteries, it can provide about a 25hp boost for about 5 minutes before being fully depleted. That's fine for accelerating from a stop light or passing someone but for any significant hill climb, it will run out of juice long before you get to the top.
With a Plug-In-Hybrid, they put a larger battery bank in but still significantly smaller than a pure battery EV. In normal daily use, you charge at night in your garage. Let's say 20kWH battery bank. When commuting to work (not towing or loaded heavy), you may only average about 60hp output to maintain speed. If you run the math that might give you a 20 mile range under electric alone...then the engine kicks in if you need to go further. The vast majority of miles are short range commuting trips, so if you are 10 miles from work, you will only rarely have the gas engine kick on. (As it nears empty, it can switch to more of a traditional operation using the battery for short boosts to compensate for a smaller gas engine).
As mentioned, a 1.5kWH battery bank might weigh 30lb, so a 20kWH bank would weigh about 400lb, for most users, this wouldn't be a big issue. The downside is PIHs usually use an undersized engine as it's assumed to be relatively rare to operate in gas mode only.
I think Ford is caught in a marketing dilemma. Big HP and towing numbers sell but honestly, who's really buying a 1/2 ton truck to tow 14,000lb. A 5000lb tow rating truck that is able to get 95% of it's miles under electric power, would be far more useful to most buyers but now you have to convince the buyers, they don't need huge HP/Towing numbers.
