VW And Ford Will Not Electrify Their New Amarok And Ranger “Twins”

Volkswagen says that the next-generation Amarok and Ranger pickups it is co-developing with Ford will not be electrified.

Speaking with Car Advice at the Frankfurt Auto Show, where Volkswagen unveiled its ID.3, the German brand’s board member and chief operating officer Ralf Brandstatter said many future VW models will indeed be electrified, but not the Amarok/Ranger “twins” won’t be among them.

“Until 2025 we will bring 20 models on this MEB platform. With these 20 models we will cover all segments we have today. [The ID.3] is the size of a Golf with the interior size of a Passat, and it speeds up like a GTI,” Brandstatter . “Of course, cars that are similar like a Tiguan or like a Passat will follow. Therefore we are planning 20 models by 2025 on this platform.”

Also Read: 2022 Volkswagen Amarok – Envisaging A Ford Ranger-Based Truck For America And Beyond

Asked directly about the two trucks, Brandstatter was pretty clear in his response: “At the moment this type of car is not planned to electrify.”

Unlike Wolfsburg and Dearborn, Toyota has already confirmed its own mid-size truck, the HiLux, will be electrified in the future; moreover, Mitsubishi and Nissan will go down the same road with the Triton and Navara, respectively. Ford itself isn’t opposed to building more efficient versions of its existing pickup trucks and has already confirmed an all-electric F-150 that is expected to launch in 2021, and a hybrid version that will precede it by one year.

It is difficult to say why Volkswagen is opposed to electrified pickups considering its strong focus on adopting EV technology in the years ahead. The most plausible explanation is that the trucks underpinnings weren’t designed from the outset to support this tech; remember, it’s co-developed with Ford, and the U.S. isn’t that much sold on EVs just yet – not to mention the much lower gas prices compared to the Old Continent.

Then there’s the fact that the States have more lax federal emissions regs, although a 48V mild-hybrid or something similar could eventually materialize to satisfy the “renegade” states that ignore the feds and are imposing their own set of rules.