At a time when, mainly in the USA, the electric pickup market seems to be the new fashion, Ford and Volkswagen, two manufacturers that have entered into a partnership precisely in this field, are already considering entering this race as well. Namely, with EV versions of Ranger and Amarok, still for this decade.
Although and apparently, at different times in the decision process, with rumors advancing that Ford will have already decided to launch at least one plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger, still in 2023, while Volkswagen, whose Amarok shares the same T6 platform, it still seemed to be suspicious of the issue of autonomies, statements collected by both Autocar and The Drive, in Wolfsburg, seem to point to the fact that the German manufacturer is already seriously considering, entry into this segment.
The statements, made by Lars Krause, a member of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles marketing team, during the presentation of the new Amarok, reveal that the German group is already seriously “considering a 100% electric version. [da Amarok]. It is true that it is still early days, but it is certain that it is something that we are considering, even during the current life cycle of the model”.
After all, not only will Ford have an electrified Ranger, but Volkswagen will also be considering an Amarok EV…
Moreover, when stating that the German manufacturer expects to be able to present its electric pickup during the current life cycle of the new Amarok, whose arrival on the market should take place towards the end of 2022, this means that, with an expected period life span of 12 years, this new generation should remain active until the early years of the 2030s. Which makes one think that the zero-emissions version, which Volkswagen says it is still considering for this second generation of pickup, could arrive even before the end of the present decade of 2020.
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In fact, the Volkswagen representative believes that the chassis developed by Ford and that the American brand shares with the new generation of Amarok, is already prepared to accommodate either an electric motor or a battery pack.
“We believe it is possible. Obviously, we’re going to need to make some modifications to some elements, but, yes, we believe that we can think of an electric variant”, he comments.
Ford Ranger is expected to launch an electrified version in the first half of this decade.
Finally, Autocar also speculates that the manufacture of the two electric pickups could be handed over to Ford, which will choose the Michigan plant to assemble both the Ranger EV and the Amarok EV there. The British publication even advances a date for the launch of the electric Amarok: 2025.
