Electrification is coming to two of the most iconic vehicles in America: the Ford Mustang and the Ford F-150. Ford CEO Mark Fields announced official plans for a Mustang hybrid and an F-150 hybrid, confirming rumors that have swirled for years about both models. These two gas-electric models, both of which will be built in Michigan, will debut by 2020 and are part of Ford’s $4.5 billion investment to introduce 13 new electrified vehicles globally in that time frame.
Ford says that the F-150 hybrid will arrive first, going on sale by 2020 in North America and the Middle East. Although details aren’t available yet, its drivetrain will use a turbocharged EcoBoost gasoline engine along with electric motors to provide “powerful towing and payload capacity,” according to Ford. Fields also claimed that it will be able to operate as a mobile generator. Expect the electrified F-150, which will be built at a Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, to be based on an updated version of the pickup that should debut within the next year.
The Mustang hybrid, slated to debut in 2020 with sales starting at some point after that, will also be built in Michigan, at the Flat Rock plant that builds the current version of the Mustang. Fields said that the hybrid would provide “V-8 power,” ambiguous wording that could mean two things: either a drivetrain with a gas V-8 supplemented by electric motors, or a four- or six-cylinder gas engine combined with ele...