Will Ford do a PHEV Powerboost?

[MDH]

I had. a 2021 Lariat Powerboost that was totaled in an accident. I replaced with a 2021 Lariat 5.0 as there were no powerboats available. Looking for Ford to introduce a F-15O hybrid soon. In the meantime I continue to look at the 2025 Ramcharge hybrid specs and reviews.

Sponsored

 

[amschind]

Nissan E-Power

Scroll down and look at the chart of Engine RPM vs torque with the high efficiency area highighted. That's why a series hybrid, even one with a crummy ICE like the Ram, can be very good.

The next truck that I buy will be a series hybrid, hopefully with an opposed piston engine and some kind of bottoming cycle.

 

[Aron]

With the Lightning not living up to their sell through expectations I would absolutely love to see a PB with a “real” battery. No idea of the weight implications but even 100mile range would probably cover a lot of folks in EV mode and still leave the ICE for towing, distance and charging on the go.

Do you folks have interest in something like that?

Am I interested in something like that? Yes!

Would I buy it? Not anytime soon. I still have ~8.5 years left on my current truck's warranty, and I plan to hold on to it a good deal longer than that.

 

[Dinozero]

I think it's quite obvious a PHEV F150 would be very interesting for a lot of folks. The problem with all PHEV ever made tho, is the EV portion of their battery is always significantly smaller than we always hope they would be.

While a PHEV F150 with ~100 miles of EV range would be fantastic, the huge reality is that we would be lucky if it came with~40 miles of pure ev range.

I'd say the Rav4 Prime is probably the best PHEV suv/truck thing available on the market and its EV range is maybe close to 50 miles?

 

[Skoriaan]

They were offering a PHEV version of the Excape in 2022 (when my wife bought her escape), the dealer told us that "Delivery date on an PHEV is unknown," and since they had started ordering them, exactly 0 had come in. I was hoping for a PHEV for this truck. My uneducated guess (informed only slightly by my 2022 discussion with the dealer), is that the the same parts that would be used for the PHEV are the ones used in the Lightning, and until that production is caught up, I don't think we'll see much in the PHEV realm elsewhere in Ford Trucks. I kept my last F150 (my current, I guess) for 13 years--almost to the month, I picked up my last F150 in April of 2011, and my current order should be in this April (It was built as of 13 March 2024). I was hoping to keep this one for just as long. If Ford comes out with an PHEV F150, and I'm in a position to trade this in for one, barring some other issues with being able to get the build I want, I'll likely do it, as long as I've had this one for at least 3-5 years. I'd love a fully electric truck, but I just don't feel like the technology and infrastructure is where I want it yet (Even though I don't do a lot of towing), and the PHEV is the next best thing (for me).

 

[Samson16]

I think it's quite obvious a PHEV F150 would be very interesting for a lot of folks. The problem with all PHEV ever made tho, is the EV portion of their battery is always significantly smaller than we always hope they would be.

While a PHEV F150 with ~100 miles of EV range would be fantastic, the huge reality is that we would be lucky if it came with~40 miles of pure ev range.

I'd say the Rav4 Prime is probably the best PHEV suv/truck thing available on the market and its EV range is maybe close to 50 miles?

I think it’s simply space restrictions for the most part. The mythical RamCharger has a good sized battery, but they removed the need for a drive shaft and transmission to accommodate it.

 

[Samson16]

What would I have to give up for 100 miles of electric? My morning commute cost me less than a gallon of gas and I still have roughly 600 miles of range with gas stations everywhere.

 

[Dinozero]

What would I have to give up for 100 miles of electric? My morning commute cost me less than a gallon of gas and I still have roughly 600 miles of range with gas stations everywhere.

It's such a fascinating time for vehicles. With all the COVID drama and price increases and such.

I live in Rural area and always dreamed of a truck that was economical to drive as I burn a lot of miles each year. I use to price configure trucks like the Colorado Diesel and stuff all the time. Anytime a new truck came out that promised good MPG.... I was hooked!

In 2021 before the price increases due to chip shortages I was looking for a Powerboost. I couldn't land a Powerboost near me with the options and price I wanted, but I did get a 3.5 Twin Turbo. I wanted any of the Ecoboost because I had good experience with them in the past.

3 years of ownership and ~80,000 miles of driving I believe my lifetime average on that truck was right at 20MPG which funny enough is the EPA combined rating for it.

I just traded on a Lariat ER lightning I got for 22K+ off MSRP. It was a smoking deal.

The crazy part to me, is I once again cross-shopped it with a Powerboost. My Lightning ended up several thousand dollars cheaper than I could get a new or USED Powerboost.

So I feel good with my decision..... because that's exactly how it SHOULD be in my opinion. Electric should be less than an ICE vehicle. In the future, buying ICE vs electric will be like deciding go Diesel vs Gasoline. It'll be an upcharge. Because ICE vehicles are more complex and expensive to make overall.


If a Powerboost was cheaper than my lightning, I probably would've went with that.

I have a 92 mile a day commute.. so with the mileage I drive.. a Lightning will really make long term economical sense for me. (Electric is cheap too here)

 

[Samson16]

It's such a fascinating time for vehicles. With all the COVID drama and price increases and such.

I live in Rural area and always dreamed of a truck that was economical to drive as I burn a lot of miles each year. I use to price configure trucks like the Colorado Diesel and stuff all the time. Anytime a new truck came out that promised good MPG.... I was hooked!

In 2021 before the price increases due to chip shortages I was looking for a Powerboost. I couldn't land a Powerboost near me with the options and price I wanted, but I did get a 3.5 Twin Turbo. I wanted any of the Ecoboost because I had good experience with them in the past.

3 years of ownership and ~80,000 miles of driving I believe my lifetime average on that truck was right at 20MPG which funny enough is the EPA combined rating for it.

I just traded on a Lariat ER lightning I got for 22K+ off MSRP. It was a smoking deal.

The crazy part to me, is I once again cross-shopped it with a Powerboost. My Lightning ended up several thousand dollars cheaper than I could get a new or USED Powerboost.

So I feel good with my decision..... because that's exactly how it SHOULD be in my opinion. Electric should be less than an ICE vehicle. In the future, buying ICE vs electric will be like deciding go Diesel vs Gasoline. It'll be an upcharge. Because ICE vehicles are more complex and expensive to make overall.


If a Powerboost was cheaper than my lightning, I probably would've went with that.

I have a 92 mile a day commute.. so with the mileage I drive.. a Lightning will really make long term economical sense for me. (Electric is cheap too here)

Great post! 92 miles is right in the Lightnings' wheelhouse with range leftover for groceries and such! Will you also use it for serious truck stuff like towing or mainly as a super sweet commuter?

 

[RickBullotta]

I think it's quite obvious a PHEV F150 would be very interesting for a lot of folks. The problem with all PHEV ever made tho, is the EV portion of their battery is always significantly smaller than we always hope they would be.

While a PHEV F150 with ~100 miles of EV range would be fantastic, the huge reality is that we would be lucky if it came with~40 miles of pure ev range.

I'd say the Rav4 Prime is probably the best PHEV suv/truck thing available on the market and its EV range is maybe close to 50 miles?

The 2025 RAM Charger seems to have it dialed. 130 miles of EV range.

 

[Dinozero]

The 2025 RAM Charger seems to have it dialed. 130 miles of EV range.

Yes, that is very intriguing. They are using the method where it's powered by a generator basically when it's running on gas. I forget how I did it, I think I took RAMs stated total mile range, minus the EV range and then divided by whatever I could find on the fuel tank size.. and I wasn't super impressed with the MPG it gets while in generator mode though. I think that will be the problem.

If you routinely run over 130 miles in a day... I'm not sure that will be the most economical pickup.

 

[RickBullotta]

Yes, that is very intriguing. They are using the method where it's powered by a generator basically when it's running on gas. I forget how I did it, I think I took RAMs stated total mile range, minus the EV range and then divided by whatever I could find on the fuel tank size.. and I wasn't super impressed with the MPG it gets while in generator mode though. I think that will be the problem.

If you routinely run over 130 miles in a day... I'm not sure that will be the most economical pickup.

Neither is my powerboost! My lifetime average (excluding towing) is about 16.5 MPG.

 

[Dinozero]

Great post! 92 miles is right in the Lightnings' wheelhouse with range leftover for groceries and such! Will you also use it for serious truck stuff like towing or mainly as a super sweet commuter?

Great questions. So a few things.

1. I am a tall guy, and still got young kids in car seats. I love the huge amount of room the cab has, only time I can be driving and not feel my kids legs in my back the whole time. So what's where the family car part comes in.

2. I do really use the truck bed often. It's usually not doing earth shattering things, but I am a DIY guy, and I like to make Lowes runs and pickup lumber for building dog houses, entertainment centers, upgrades to the landscaping or whatever. I do recognize I could probably accomplish this in a Model Y with a utility trailer or something, but having it built into the truck is so much more convenient.

3. Towing: This is the funny one I guess. I'm the kinda guy that has owned 4 or 5 pickups with the "max tow" package (including the lightning) but has yet to actually purchase a trailer or camper. We always talk about buying a camper, and usually back off for financial reasons at the moment. I really do want the capability because someday I can see us doing it. If I do buy one, there are several parks/locations here we would take it to that would be less than 100 mile drive one way. Charge at the park and come home. (All of my camper friends tell me LONG tows with bumper campers are not enjoyable in 1500 trucks anyways. )

Maybe the furthest I could see us going to Gatlinburg, and that may require 1 charging stop, but that would be it.

But now, I have borrowed utility trailers and hauled heavy loads home from the store, and that's the most likely use case for Lightning towing to me. Purchasing 8,000LBS of landscape stones or something and being able to drag it home myself ~30-50 miles.

I understand the Lightning has series towing limitations, but I think the people that *actually* will run into those limitations are probably statistically fewer folks than the common rhetoric would lead us to believe.

 

[Dinozero]

Neither is my powerboost! My lifetime average (excluding towing) is about 16.5 MPG.

Whoa! That's super... not great. How does that exactly happen considering Ford says you'll get 24MPG in the city and the HWY. What type of driving sends it that low?

That makes me feel a little better about the Lightning. If I got a Powerboost I would be expecting 24MPG+

 

[RickBullotta]

Whoa! That's super... not great. How does that exactly happen considering Ford says you'll get 24MPG in the city and the HWY. What type of driving sends it that low?

That makes me feel a little better about the Lightning. If I got a Powerboost I would be expecting 24MPG+

Because I never lose a stoplight race (even if its just against myself) and I generally travel 75+ on the highway. The Powerboost is quick!

Sponsored