Report: Ford Creating Hybrid F-150

2015 Ford F-150 (Credit: Ford)

Ford has really been pushing the fuel economy thing lately with the F-150, rolling out a new EcoBoost engine and even turning to aluminum pieces to help lower the curb weight. You can’t really blame them since the United States government is pushing aggressive fuel consumption goals. Now the Detroit Free Press is reporting that Raj Nair, who is Ford’s chief of product development, says the company is most definitely working on creating an F-150 hybrid.

The whole hybrid powertrain is very much still in development, so details aren’t available. Anyone who is too shocked by this revelation hasn’t been reading the writing on the wall. Ford knows that the F-150 is an incredibly popular model that sells in droves, so reducing its fuel consumption will have a dramatic effect on the brand’s overall fuel economy. Advocates for improved vehicle efficiency have even claimed that making “green” versions of vehicles like the F-150 is more beneficial than the benefits posed by all of the Toyota Priuses on the roads today.

There’s a strong possibility that Ford will offer a plug-in version of the F-150 pickup. That would mean that driving around town for short errands might not even require the driver to activate the internal combustion engine as the truck would just run off electricity.

Nair also addressed rumors that Ford is working on a diesel-powered F-150 that would go up against the Ram EcoDiesel. He said that the steep cost of such a powertrain, coupled with the current premium price of diesel means such a powertrain will likely never be introduced to the truck’s lineup. Still, he did admit during the interview that if demand for such a vehicle was shown by consumers, Ford has the ability to address such a need.