Rumours abound about upcoming F-150
What we know, think we know and are just guessing at about new model of iconic Ford truck
Considering how many prophets have pontificated on the upcoming 2021 mid-model refresh of Ford’s iconic F-150, there isn’t all that much we actually know about the new truck.
We know it will be slightly larger than the outgoing model, there’s a really good possibility it will have a huge infotainment screen, and Ford’s trademark EcoBoost V6s will make a return appearance. After that, it’s all pretty much conjecture, ranging in verifiability from what we think we know to what we’re simply guessing — or in a few cases hoping — is coming.
In the engine department, there were once rumours of an all-new V8, with 4.8 litres in displacement. This now seems unlikely, with Ford deciding to soldier on with its aging 5.0-L engine.
That makes sense because, as the EcoBoosts have proven, naturally aspirated V8s are on their way out.
After all us OK-Boomers move on to our subcompact years, V8s will probably die, so I suspect Ford’s bean-counters determined it does not make sense to spend money developing an engine that might have a limited lifespan. One rumour that has leaped from “no way” to “wouldn’t that be incredible?” is the mating of the supercharged 5.2-L Shelby GT500 V8 with the Raptor pickup. The logic behind this is Ford will need some sort of 700-plus-horsepower beastie when Ram shoehorns its 707-hp Hellcat into the upcoming Rebel TRX.
The one problem with this 760-hp prophecy is that early reports by Car and Driver suggested the big-block powerhouse would power the last edition of the outgoing model, while more recent suggestions anticipate the overpowered version of the Raptor to be a 2022 addition to the new F-150. One thing is for sure: it can’t be both.
There are also rumours of a horsepower jump in the F-150’s 3.0-L turbodiesel, this speculation arising from the contention that Ford’s diesel is being outgunned by both FCA’s and GM’s equivalent oil-burner.
And it’s sealed, according to Motor Trend, by the fact the diesel is the one existing F-150 powertrain for which VIN-decoding information has not released official power figures.
The hypothesis, says the magazine’s Monica Gonderman, is that the Blue Oval will “find an additional 30 horses and lb-ft of twist from the F-150’s diesel engine.”
This one definitely falls into the makes-sense-but-don’tbet-the-farm category.
What appears to be pure wishful thinking, at least for the time being, is the concept of one of the EcoBoosted turbocharged V6s being mated to a plug-in hybrid drive.
This much-hypothesized powertrain was thoroughly rebuked by Ford’s product communication manager, Mike Levine, who declared the upcoming F-150 Hybrid will definitely be based on the Explorer powertrain.
That’s a 3.3-L normally aspirated V6, married to a nonplug-in 44-hp electric motor powered by a 1.5-kilowatt hour lithium-ion battery.
If the supercharged V8 gets us all hot and bothered, the Hybrid speculation is a splash of cold water to the face, there being nothing truly innovative about this combination of electricity and fossil fuel.
The other area of heightened attention is in the rear suspension, soothsayers spending hours poring over grainy spy shots of camouflaged test mules. What seems apparent is the all-electric battery-powered F-150 will have independent suspension, though Levine stated Ford’s F-150 BEV will not share a platform with the upcoming Rivian R1T, even though Ford is one of that company’s major investors.
The timing of the new truck’s reveal is now probably more dependent on our collective re-emergence from the coronavirus crisis than any need for final engineering by Ford.
Nonetheless, look for this rumour mill to continue to feed on the wildest of prognostications; this is, after all, arguably the most important new model launch of the past 12 months.