Ford plans electric F-150 ute

Ford intends making a battery electric F-150 ute after already announcing plans for a hybrid version.

“We’re going to be electrifying the F-series — battery electric and hybrid,” Ford global markets president Jim Farley says.

Ford isn’t providing details yet, including when the ute will go on sale, CNN

reports.

It also plans an electric Transit van.

Farley says an electric F-150 would suit customers with the right needs, such as not needing to travel long distances in one day but who still want to tow and carry equipment.

Ford’s F-series utes have been the bestselling vehicle in America for four decades, accounting for about a third of Ford’s sales.

“There’s so much diversity in there that there are some subsets of customers who would love an all-electric version of those vehicles because of the cost of ownership and the duty cycles,” Farley told CNN

at the New York Auto Show in March 2018. Ford would not confirm at that time, however, that an electric F-series ute was actually planned.

Tesla plans an electric ute and several start-up companies intend making them too, such as US-based Rivian’s R1T expected to start production in late 2020.