Ford has confirmed that it is working on electrified versions of the Ranger (and Everest SUV), but where are they?
According to one dealer that reached out to CarsGuide, Australians should not hold their breath for a Ranger or Everest with hybrid – let alone battery electric vehicle (EV) – technology, as development is still in its early days and there is little chance of seeing anything on showroom floors before 2026.
“It’s still years away,” they said. “From what we understand, there isn’t even anything they can show us.”
This puts Australia’s best-selling vehicle in a perilous position, as Ranger rivals such as the imminent Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara and even the next-generation Toyota HiLux utes are likely to offer some sort of hybrid, at least as an option.
“We’re worried that the Ranger will fall behind the competition,” our source added. “We’ve been led to believe it will happen sooner rather than later… but there’s nothing. Not for at least a few years yet.”
Ford Australia has declined to comment, adding that it does not talk about future product.
It is no secret that the local engineers are working on electrified versions of the T6.2 Ranger/Everest range, with the completely redesigned structure forward of the windscreen, wider tracks and 50mm longer wheelbase all contributing to the inclusion of the necessary hybrid and battery technologies.
Back when the PY Ranger was launched nearly one year ago, we reported that Ford Australia was “burning the midnight oil” on electrified versions of the T6.2 to lessen the model’s reliance on diesel, particularly for European markets with increasingly stringent emissions policies.
It seems this has been brought into even sharper focus with the unexpected Euro 7 legislation set from July 1, 2025, which mandates far-stricter exhaust, brake and tyre emissions, and extended timeframes for when engines must meet maximum pollution limits (to 10 years/200,000km), among other new standards.
At the time, we speculated a petrol-electric hybrid would serve as an up-spec alternative to the V6 turbo-diesel as well as the twin-turbo V6 petrol found in the current Ranger Raptor. Whether this means a regular series-parallel set-up or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) technology is not yet known. An EV Ranger is also expected at some point.
How this affects the related North American-market Bronco SUV is unclear, as that is another T6.2 Ranger-based model with substantial Australian input (despite not being sold in this country due to a lack of right-hand drive for now) rumoured to be going down the hybrid path soon. Likewise, the latest Volkswagen Amarok.
Worryingly, the urgency in getting an electrified Ranger and its offshoots to market seems to be at odds with the contraction of personnel numbers at Ford Australia’s design and engineering centres in Melbourne and nearby Geelong. Several hundred voluntary redundancies and job losses have occurred there over the past 12 months or so.
The alleged delays in getting the hybrid and EV into Ranger raises questions as to whether these will even make it on time, before the next-generation versions that are said to share an all-new scalable and electrified-ready truck architecture with the future F-Series truck arrives towards the end of this decade. As we’ve previously reported, Ford in Detroit has taken the lead on these.
That said, this won’t necessarily spell the end of the Australian T6.2 program or the vehicles it has sired, as the current platform is expected to continue alongside the newer versions in more price-sensitive markets, evolving over time as required with updates and facelifts.
Want to know more? Stay tuned, as we’ll keep you posted as more information regarding the Ranger hybrid and EV as it comes to hand.
Keyword: Where is the Ford Ranger hybrid and EV? The obstacles blocking the arrival of the Australian-designed and engineered electrified ute (and Everest SUV versions)