2021 Ford F-150 hybrid

I don’t see this as being particularly realistic for 1/2 ton owners. Most 1/2 tons I see are pulling 25 foot or smaller travel trailers or equipment trailers weighing 6000 or 7000 pounds. The coming Ford Electric half ton, the Tesla Cybertruck and the Rivian are all electric 1/2 tons that will do the same job with much more power, virtually no maintenance and can be charged at home or at the shop. There are a lot of grocery getter half tons around here but also a lot of contractors. I can’t see a contractor choosing a gasser/hybrid that can’t be plugged in over an electric once 2022 rolls around. The operating costs of the electric would be a small fraction of the operating costs of anything with a tailpipe.

Jmho.

colliehauler wrote:
Isn't the battery/electric motor more of a temporary boost for like climbing a hill or passing another vehicle?

That is part of my beef with this tiny battery. The battery will probably make a good impact on the EPA mileage test for an empty truck but I would like to have a battery makes an impact when towing a fairly heavy trailer. Also, a mode that enables you to charge or deplete the battery (especially one this small) in anticipation of making a major hill climb or a descent. Batteries also charge slower than they can discharge so your regen will be limited by battery size.

Finally, this truck is advertised for use as a 7.5Kw stationary generator. It doesn't make a lot of sense to have to run an engine this size continuously to supply 2 or 3kw. Put in a big enough battery that you can run the engine awhile at a higher output then shut down for an hour or two.

Finally, there are tax credits available for batteries of 5Kwh so at first they really wouldn't cost the consumer anything. My guess is that Ford is saving those credits for vehicles that will try to compete with Tesla.

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.

Isn't the battery/electric motor more of a temporary boost for like climbing a hill or passing another vehicle?

Groover wrote:

bikendan wrote:

Groover wrote:
"This model is also capable of hauling a 3325 payload"

I will be much more impressed if the payload package is more obtainable and can be combined with the higher towing ratings. It has been almost impossible to get for the last 6 years and required seemingly unrelated compromises if you did special order it.

Yep, I'm more interested in the real world payload capacity numbers, NOT towing capacity numbers. Especially with a big heavy battery in it.

It won't have a big heavy battery. I would be surprised if the lithium battery in it weighs 30lbs. I would like to see at least 4 times that much battery.

Agreed, a battery in the 10-15 kwh range would not be exceedingly heavy, and would allow for a 20-30 mile range on battery only. This would allow many commuters to run on battery only, while retaining the ability to tow heavy for long distances primarily on gasoline.

bikendan wrote:

Groover wrote:
"This model is also capable of hauling a 3325 payload"

I will be much more impressed if the payload package is more obtainable and can be combined with the higher towing ratings. It has been almost impossible to get for the last 6 years and required seemingly unrelated compromises if you did special order it.

Yep, I'm more interested in the real world payload capacity numbers, NOT towing capacity numbers. Especially with a big heavy battery in it.

It won't have a big heavy battery. I would be surprised if the lithium battery in it weighs 30lbs. I would like to see at least 4 times that much battery.

Let's hope Ford did a better job on this hybrid than Ram did.

Groover wrote:
"This model is also capable of hauling a 3325 payload"

I will be much more impressed if the payload package is more obtainable and can be combined with the higher towing ratings. It has been almost impossible to get for the last 6 years and required seemingly unrelated compromises if you did special order it.

Yep, I'm more interested in the real world payload capacity numbers, NOT towing capacity numbers. Especially with a big heavy battery in it.

3325lb payload. Wow, man Ford really is leading the way here.

They even have trucks made of unobtanium now!

Groover wrote:

jdc1 wrote:
Hopefully it's a plug-in version, having the ability to travel 25 or more miles on electric only.

Nope. Not nearly battery to even consider that.

That's a shame. They are missing out on a great opportunity in an wide open market segment. Imagine the wife driving the kids to school everyday. Imagine driving to work every day.....and charging for free with your rooftop solar. You could average 75mpg! You'd save enough on gas for that two week camping trip every year. And, your gasoline motor would only be working 1/4 the time......lasting forever!