Ford Bronco hybrid could preview Ranger ute

It was the most hyped new vehicle launch so far in 2020, but the reveal of the new Ford Bronco family in the USA this morning didn’t provide clues to a hybrid Ford Ranger ute we were hoping for.

While Ford’s stated previously both the full-size Bronco off-roader and its light-duty little bro the Bronco Sport will eventually offer hybrid powertrains, they weren’t being discussed today.

Instead, all the focus for these North American left-hand drive models was on orthodox turbo-petrol tech. Boring!

We had hoped the unveil of the Bronco would give us some serious clues about the petrol-electric hybrid powertrain expected in the next generation of the incredibly popular Ranger and its Everest family SUV sibling due by 2022.

That’s because the Bronco is based on the latest development of the ‘T6’ architecture that also underpins the Ranger and  Everest.

In fact Ford’s Australian product development centre based in Melbourne is the global homeroom – car company parlance for headquarters – for T6 and the blue oval’s Australian-based engineers have been all over the Bronco’s chassis and powertrains (the slab-sided look has come out of North America).

The learnings gleaned from Bronco development have been ploughed straight back into next-gen ‘T7’ Ranger and Everest that are currently under development in Australia.

The new Ranger will also form the basis of the next generation Volkswagen Amarok so we’re talking a lot of ute sales globally here.

The powertrain line-up for the next generation Ranger and Everest is reported to include a plug-in hybrid powertrain based around the EcoBoost 2.3-litre turbo-petrol engine that already powers the US version of the current Ranger (that was Aussie-developed).

Of course, the ute and heavy-duty SUV market in Australia is dominated by diesels and a hybrid Ranger may be years away. But remember, Toyota is pushing to have a hybrid version of its top-selling HiLux ute introduced by 2025.

Which brings us back to the Bronco. Ford has already confirmed it will eventually feature hybridisation, it’s just not being talked about by the blue oval right now.

Which is fair enough considering the global interest in the reborn Jeep Wrangler rival – the tough Jeep will also soon feature a PHEV option by the way – has been incredible.

Bronco has been at the top of search engine topic lists and was launched today across the Disney broadcasting network in the USA.

Clearly, Ford can hold fire on Bronco PHEV and announce it down the track for another big burst of media coverage.

Apart from the new 2.3, there are existing 2.5-litre four-cylinder and 3.3-litre V6 hybrid options Ford could explore for Bronco.

Perhaps most famous here as the vehicle OJ Simpson used for his infamous freeway drive in 1994, the original Bronco was launched in 1965 and ran through five generations to 1996 as a two-door SUV.

This time round there’s a two-door, a four-door and the Bronco Sport, which is a close relation of the Ford Escape compact SUV that will be coming to Australia later in 2020.

That model will arrive with the aforementioned 2.5-litre petrol plug-in hybrid powertrain in the flagship ST-Line PHEV priced at $52,490 plus on-road costs.

Again, no hybrid confirmed for Bronco Sport today, but the option obviously exists. Sadly, like Bronco, it is also confirmed we won’t be seeing Bronco Sport in Australia as no right-hand drive business case exists.