More Ford PHEVs as NVES price hikes ruled out

THE GLOBAL product chief of Ford has vowed not to increase vehicle prices in Australia in order to counter penalties the automaker is likely to face under the New Vehicle Emissions Standard (NVES).

Speaking with GoAuto at the European launch of the Ranger plug-in hybrid (PHEV), Jim Baumbick, Ford global vice president of advanced product development, hinted at increased electrification of Ford products as a way to address emissions regulation.

“We are not jacking up the price because of our regulatory status,” he said.

“As we always have, we continue to work on this broader mission of improving (CO2 emissions) year over year.

“We believe in (emissions reduction). Our approach on the vehicle lines is that every model is going to continue to improve (on CO2 emissions).

“We are trying to move as fast as we can. There are development lead times, stay tuned.”

Under NVES, carmakers that are reliant on selling high-CO2 vehicles can choose to absorb (or pass on) monetary fines issued by the Commonwealth government for breaching strict annual fleet average CO2 limits, or they can electrify their vehicles into compliant territory.

“The regulatory requirements in Australia changed very rapidly, faster than (the) normal process,” Mr Baumbick told GoAuto.

“But we already had (the Ranger PHEV) under development because we thought we needed to have (it in) the portfolio.

“We didn’t do (the Ranger PHEV) because of the new (NVES) requirements.

“It is part of the overall mission in the portfolio of options. We know we can unlock new capabilities with electrification, so we are going to keep the pedal down.

“But that doesn’t mean it’s a light switch and everything is going electric.”

Many Ford Ranger variants (including the petrol-fuelled Raptor, all diesel V6 versions, and some four-cylinder diesels) are already in breach of the 2025 NVES CO2 limit of 210g/km on light commercial vehicles, and it only gets harder from next year onward.

In 2029, the limit is 110g/km.

With nearly one in five Ranger sales being of the 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 Raptor (which produces 262g/km CO2), and with the diesel V6 version making 222g/km, Ford Australia needs to convince Australian buyers that they should consider the turbo four-cylinder Ranger PHEV that emits just 66g/km on paper.

While Ford markets the all-electric Mustang Mach-E in Australia (scoring a useful 0g/km CO2 for NVES purposes), it is selling very slowly locally with just 673 delivered in 2024, compared with more than 62,000 Ranger ute examples (of which more than 10,000 were max-emission Raptors).

If Ford Australia does not manage to meaningfully reduce its fleet average CO2 emissions, currently dominated by the in-breach Ranger ute and Everest wagon lines, it would face multi-million-dollar fines under NVES legislation as enacted.

Mr Baumbick’s insistence that Ford will not increase prices to cope with the regulatory environment, but will instead commit to reducing the CO2 profile of its model lines, means that the only answer for Australia appears to be more full hybrids (HEVs), PHEVs, and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) for the local market.

It is known that the T6.2 Ranger platform supports full electrification, and Volkswagen continues the e-Amarok BEV on this architecture. The e-Amarok is understood to utilise a circa-100kWh battery with a 500km range target.

With some of the Ranger PHEV’s specifications, in particular outright power and electric range, paling in comparison to Chinese rivals like the BYD Shark 6 and GWM Cannon Alpha, Ford may concentrate on more capable Rangers, with a Ranger Raptor PHEV one possibility using F-150 hybrid mechanicals.

It is possible that Ford itself will pass on a fully electric Ranger for the time being, with the Detroit-based manufacturer understood to be working on a separate fully-electric, midsize pick-up product for the US market that will, in part, replace the F-150 Lightning BEV that has not yet been sold in Australia.

As NVES laws currently stand, a further loophole is to shift some sales volume of Ranger to the recently revealed Super Duty specification. Vehicles with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) greater than 4500kg are exempt from being counted for CO2 purposes under NVES.

However, a move to shift Ranger production en masse to NVES-exempt Super Duty specification could trigger efforts to close such a loophole.