Ford: A pretty sensible pickup
Platform trucks are becoming increasingly popular. The one-ton payload class is dominated by the Ford Ranger, which is now available with plug-in hybrid drive - still a rare combination.
What is considered small in America is already huge here. With a length of almost 5.40 meters, the Ford Ranger only just fits into most public parking spaces. Nevertheless, the pickup is easy to drive in everyday life, it fits - just barely - into parking garages, is very comfortable on long journeys and is also extremely practical thanks to its large loading area and high off-road capability thanks to all-wheel drive and good slope angles.
This means that the Ford actually has everything it takes to make pickups a popular vehicle category in our country too - because although they are becoming increasingly common on the roads, flatbed trucks are still exotic in our country. This is also due to the fact that pickups are not exactly fuel-efficient by design. After the introduction of the all-electric F-150 Lightning was not very well received, Ford has now opted for a plug-in hybrid drive (PHEV) for the smaller Ranger - and this can actually be driven quite economically through everyday life. It is also the most powerful variant in the line-up, if you leave aside the Ranger «Raptor».
Modest e-range
The Ranger is practical, robust and inexpensive and is therefore not only very popular for professional use, but also as a lifestyle pickup. This is why it leads the one-tonne payload pickup segment in Europe with an impressive 44 percent market share. As a PHEV with a combination of 2.3-liter turbo petrol engine and electric motor, the pickup promises a WLTP consumption of 3.2 liters per 100 kilometers. However, this figure is almost impossible to achieve in everyday use. With its small battery (11.8 kWh), it can theoretically cover 43 kilometers purely electrically on one charge, but in practice it is significantly less. And since the Ranger can only be charged at a 230-volt socket and a charge takes four hours, the combustion engine will often be used. We recorded an average of just under 7.5 l/100 km during the test.
Thanks to the 10-speed automatic transmission and a well-balanced chassis, the Ranger PHEV drives very smoothly and is more reminiscent of an SUV than a work tool. In the top «Wildtrack» trim (from 72,250 Swiss francs), it is surprisingly well equipped, well soundproofed and very comfortable even on long highway journeys. So if you want to indulge in the pickup lifestyle, this model is an exciting option - more sensible than the ’Raptor«, which costs about the same, but still has a high coolness factor.
