In news you probably weren’t ready for today, Election Day is tomorrow—you should probably make sure you’re ready to cast your vote. Once you’ve done your civic duty, you can then pretend consumerist duty exists by setting aside money for a down payment on the next-generation Ford Ranger, which Ford Australia has confirmed will debut on November 24.
The new midsize pickup truck will be revealed at 2 a.m. Eastern via streams on Ford’s Facebook and (Aussie) YouTube channels, showing off the result of thousands of owner interviews Ford conducted to work out what the next Ranger needs to be. Going by years worth of powertrain rumors, one of those things is a need to be more powerful, which the new Ranger looks poised to become.
Reports have surfaced on multiple occasions that one available engine option will be the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6, which is utilized in the mechanically related Bronco—it seems like a shoo-in for the Ranger. It has also been said that the Ranger’s existing 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder could gain plug-in hybrid power, offering pure-electric driving capability, not to mention a significantly elevated 362 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque. Seeing as both the F-150 and Maverick can be had as hybrids now, it’d be a surprise to see the Ranger without such an option.
Ford has also supposedly tested a Ranger with the 3.0-liter Power Stroke turbodiesel that was formerly offered in the F-150, though the current diesel Ranger’s unavailability in the United States makes a Ranger Power Stroke seem unlikely. We’ll find out for sure whatever’s under the hood in just a few weeks, and perhaps see the Ranger on the market as soon as model year 2022. Even if it’s further out, Ford likely has a hit on its hands, as the only other fresh option in the midsize truck segment today is the Nissan Frontier. A superb truck in its own right, but not one that ticks as broad a range of boxes as the new Ranger could.
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