The 2021 F-150 represents the fourteenth-generation F-Series, which has been the best-selling American truck since the Carter administration. We’ve already seen all of it, but Ford today gave us some power numbers to go along with the photos.
The 2021 F-150 will, like the 2020 F-150, come in a ton of different configurations. The full hybrid version—called PowerBoost, because the power is boosted—will make 430 horsepower and 570 lb-ft of torque, the most ever for an F-150. In a different configuration, the new F-150 is also good enough to tow up 14,000 pounds and haul 3,325 pounds in the bed.
Since I can’t keep all of the configurations and horsepower and torque and towing capacity numbers and engines straight in my head here are two handy charts from Ford:
Ford is in an arms race to make the truckiest truck that ever trucked or something! I’m sure the new F-150 will certainly be a truck.
The more interesting question still lingering is the mpg numbers. You would think part of the point of a hybrid truck would be to rack up decent fuel mileage, except Green Car Reports says that probably isn’t the case:
As for the other important aspect relating to hybrid trucks—gas mileage—we’ll just have to see, as official ratings aren’t yet out. Ford revealed in June that the F-150 Hybrid is targeting an EPA-estimated range of about 700 miles for the PowerBoost Hybrid version. That would amount to about 23 mpg combined, considering the 30.6-gallon tank.
That likely won’t make it the most fuel-efficient model in the F-150 lineup. Among models in the outgoing F-150 generation, models with the 3.0-liter V-6 get 24 mpg combined, and some versions with the turbodiesel V-6 have earned 25 mpg combined—reaching 30 mpg highway.
I realize that gas mileage for F-150 buyers is probably about the last thing any of them are worried about especially in an era of cheap gas. That’s disappointing since making a more fuel-efficient F-150 would do more to move the climate change needle than almost any amount of Toyota Prius, given its sales. I guess I will shift my hopes to the electric F-150, though what Ford should really do is keep F-150 powertrains secret.