Ford F-150 range-extender patent revealed

Ford has patented a removable range extender for the forthcoming F-150 battery electric pick-up truck.

According to diagrams associated with the patent, the range extender would sit in the tray and resembles a toolbox.

The F-150 Electric – as it is expected to be badged – is due on-sale in 2022, following on from the rest of the latest generation range that is just rolling out in the USA now.

Most recently it has been seen in a teaser video and accompanying press material that highlighted its towing prowess and boasted it would be the most powerful and fastest accelerating version of the top-selling Ford truck ever.

But there was no discussion of range and previously the global chief of product development at the blue oval, Hau Thai-Tang, has played down expectations on how far full-size electric pick-ups will be able to travel between recharges.

But Ford has clearly been working on a solution for some time. A patent was submitted in April 2018 and published in September 2020.

A range extender is usually an internal combustion engine that is used to generate electricity for the batteries and rarely or never drives the wheels of the vehicle itself.

The Holden Cruze was a range extender hybrid, while the BMW i3 also offered a REx option. The Mazda MX-30 has recently been confirmed as using a small rotary engine as a range extender.

The weight and performance expectations for full-size picks-ups make battery duration a challenge and therefore a range extender makes sense.

The tray of a full-size pick-up such as F-150 lends itself to the fitment of such a device. Likely found inside such a box would be a small engine, fuel tank, exhaust system and electronics.

The abstract for the patent states: “This disclosure details electrified vehicles that are equipped with removable generators for increasing the electric range of the vehicles. An exemplary electrified vehicle includes a cargo space, such as a truck bed, and a generator removably positioned within the cargo space. The generator is adapted to selectively supply power for either charging a battery pack of the electrified vehicle or for propelling one or more vehicle drive wheels. In some embodiments, the generator is shaped like, and therefore disguised as, a toolbox.”

Because the ‘toolbox’ is removable the space in the tray can be reclaimed for stowage when range extension is not required.

There is as yet no confirmation the range extender will be part of the F-150 Electric equipment list when it rolls into dealerships.

But it would certainly give it another selling point against the significant number of electrified trucks soon scheduled for sale including the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian R1T, Lordstown Endurance, Chevrolet Silverado EV and the Nikola Badger, although the last one is under something of a cloud at the moment.

Of course there is no confirmation we will see the F-150 EV or any other member of the range here as Ford does not officially import that model to Australia.