Electric pickup trucks are cool, but they also aren’t for everyone. Long-distance towing often demands a combustion-powered truck, and most battery electric vehicles are still expensive. However, solely gasoline-powered trucks aren’t ideal for suburban use cases, with all the short trips and inefficiencies. Thankfully, there’s a Goldilocks option. We at The Autopian are huge fans of plug-in hybrids, and a small truck seems like the ideal application. Well, one automaker’s been listening because Europeans are about to gain a truck with a seriously pragmatic powertrain: The 2025 Ford Ranger Plug-In Hybrid. Ford beating Toyota to the plug-in hybrid truck punch. Who’d have thought?

Starting with the tried-and-true 2.3-liter Ecoboost turbocharged four-cylinder engine, Ford’s added a full plug-in hybrid system to maximize economy without seriously impacting towing. See, battery electric vehicles are hugely efficient, which is a gift and a curse. On the plus side, we’re able to pull fairly astonishing range and energy efficiency out of today’s EVs. On the minus side, their energy consumption is extremely sensitive. Inefficient driving like towing or high-speed cruising can cut range by a noticeable amount. Gasoline-powered vehicles are relatively inefficient, with thermal losses greater than 50 percent, so towing doesn’t affect fuel consumption nearly as drastically. For those who use their truck for both commuting and heavy hobbies, electric power around town and combustion capability for towing just makes sense.

Further details on the plug-in hybrid powertrain are scarce, but Ford’s press release claims the use of a single electric motor, and that the Ranger Plug-In Hybrid can “be driven in pure electric mode for a targeted driving range of more than 45 kilometres.” That’s 28 miles once converted into freedom units, although judging by this model’s European focus, that figure is most likely calculated using the optimistic WLTP cycle, so take it with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, towing capacity for the Ranger Plug-In Hybrid clocks in at a cool 7,716 pounds, the same as the regular Ranger in Europe. Oh, and here’s a cool stat — Ford claims it’ll make “more torque than any other Ranger,” which includes both the Raptor and the European Powerstroke diesel variant.

Oh, and thanks to the hybrid battery, European Ranger Plug-In Hybrid customers will get something Americans have grown to love over the past few years — Ford’s Pro Power Onboard generator, a multi-kilowatt vehicle-to-load system for running big appliances. Think miter saws, or refrigerators. While Ford hasn’t announced a power output for this particular generator, the F-150 Powerboost Hybrid can be specced with up to 7.2 kW of Pro Power Onboard, so here’s hoping the Ranger Plug-In Hybrid gets a similar arrangement.

Ford claims that the first Ranger Plug-In Hybrid examples will be delivered to European customers in early 2025, which is all well and good, but I can’t help but feel that America needs this truck. For all the weekend warriors, frequent U-Haul customers, and those otherwise inclined towards periodic light towing, electric power around town is a scenario that lets you have your cake and eat it too. Fingers crossed this intriguingly flexible powertrain crosses the Atlantic in the future.

(Photo credits: Ford)

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