Battery electric and plug-in hybrid versions of the Amarok are being actively considered by Volkswagen as the company determines the best way forward as Euro 7 deadlines loom.
Both the Amarok, and its donor car, the Ford Ranger, are built on Ford’s Australian-developed T6.2 platform, which is ready for electrification.
An electrified version of the Amarok ute is expected in the middle of the decade, but the company is wrestling with the issue of driving range versus payload and towing capacity.
The diesel and petrol-powered Amarok launches in Australia in April 2023, and an electric model is expected a couple of years after that, close to halfway into its expected 10-year life cycle.
The European Union’s mooted Euro 7 emissions regulations that are expected to kick in in 2025 are causing headaches for the German car-maker’s commercial vehicles arm.
A senior VW Commercial Vehicles executive announced in a media presentation in April that VW was looking at a pure electric version of the pick-up, but it is also believed Ford is developing a PHEV version of the Ranger.
Speaking with Australian journalists at the international first drive of the Amarok, VW Commercial product manager Petr Sulc said the company is weighing up its options for electrification, but added that there would have to be a compromise.
“If you put into it the big battery, you are losing 300 or 400 kilograms of the payload and you can achieve the towing capacity. But the payload is really dropping down. And it’s why it’s exactly the problem,” he said.
“So it is why I am saying that yes, it will be a really good solution, but we need really to find a compromise between the electrical range and the payload. Because for me if you asked me as a product manager what I would like to do, I would like to keep the payload and towing capacity and decrease the electric range. This would be the way that I would like to do.”
However, Mr Sulc acknowledged that some countries, like Australia, need more range from electric cars to cover longer distances.
“Because you would like to tow in Australia. A lot of guys have horses, mobiles for the camping and so on. So, this [Amarok] is the towing car and we need payload and towing. Because the customers are accepting that you will not have the diesel that you were used to. It will come a certain point of time that there will not be any powerful diesel at all on the market by anyone.”
The proposed Euro 7 emissions standards are set to kick in in mid-2025, and VW is hoping to have a solution ready to go by that time as it may have an impact on whether it can continue to sell the V6 diesel version of the Amarok.
Ford’s PHEV Ranger is expected to offer up about 100km of driving range, which means a hefty battery which could reduce payload.
Mr Sulc also suggested that given the regulations were more restrictive on diesel engines, it would make sense to use a petrol engine for the PHEV.
He acknowledged that the low payload, high towing strategy that Ford has adopted for the all-electric F-150 Lightning pick-up is probably the better option.
The F-150 Lightning EV’s towing capacity is about 1800kg off the petrol F-150, while payload is down by 458kg. It has a driving range from 370km to 515km depending on the grade and battery size.
While Mr Sulc said he believed that the European Commision may delay the rollout of the standards to after 2025, he added that VW will be ready to go with a low-emissions solution for the Amarok by that date if they are required to.
Keyword: Volkswagen Amarok is going to be electrified by 2025 - but will it be plug-in hybrid or battery electric?