A F350 EV? Will FORD’s New EXEV’s Fill The Gap Between PHEV’s And EV’s?

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
EXEV…extended range electric vehicles

Ford is working on producing vehicles that they call EXEV’s and that may promise ranges up to 700 miles. They’re a couple of years away from getting these vehicles out to us, but the concept sounds promising .

These sound a bit like traditional PHEV’s because they combine electric motors with small gas engines.

Read more about this :

(FORD) Engineers are also hard at work developing so-called extended-range electric vehicles, broadly similar to plug-in hybrids, though there are some differences. A complicated (since you basically have two separate powertrains) but an effective intermediate step between combustion-powered vehicles and pure EVs, both EREVs and plug-ins provide the best of both worlds. When charged up, many motorists can do most of their daily driving purely on electric power, but you still have a traditional engine for when you want to take a longer trip. Some of these products will offer as much as 700 miles of range, ideal for cross-country drives.

Reportedly, the company will offer range-extended electric drivetrains in many of its most popular products including crossover and SUV models as well as the gargantuan Super Duty truck line. And, that last vehicle could be a game-changer given the popularity – and profitability – of these hard-working vehicles.”


Here’s more :

It looks like lower than hoped for sales of the Lightning drastically changed production targets of that model.

“(It’s been announced that Ford has shrunken it production plans) for the second-generation Ford F-150 EV following softening demand…Ford plans to build less than 100,000 units of that model annually at the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center when it comes online in 2027, compared to the 300,000 that it originally intended to produce there.”

But that lower number of available Lightnings might free up the market some, for people more interested in instead buying the greater range new EREV trucks. And the biggest news here is that the Ford plans to add an EXEV option to the Ford SUPER DUTY line of trucks as well as having an EVER set up for more than one crossover and/or SUV, too!
 
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rruff

Explorer
EXEV…extended range electric vehicles
I'm sure they'd love to sell them, but if it's something like the Ram with a 3.6L V6 as the "range extender", I don't think it's practical. All the complexity and expense of manufacturing BEV and ICE vehicles combined. One of the big pluses of BEVs is the simplicity. Battery tech keeps improving and getting cheaper. Currently just pick BEV or ICE depending on that works best for you, since fossil fuels are still cheap.
 

CappyJax

Member
I'm sure they'd love to sell them, but if it's something like the Ram with a 3.6L V6 as the "range extender", I don't think it's practical. All the complexity and expense of manufacturing BEV and ICE vehicles combined. One of the big pluses of BEVs is the simplicity. Battery tech keeps improving and getting cheaper. Currently just pick BEV or ICE depending on that works best for you, since fossil fuels are still cheap.
Well, you nix the transmission which saves a lot on complexity as well as the need for engines that need power and efficiency over a large RPM range. You can have a very simple, reliable, and cheap naturally aspirated engine that is optimized for efficiency at near its max power output to spin the generator. No turbos, no complex cams, much smaller displacement, etc. You could easily get by with a 100-150HP engine at a fraction of the cost to have more power and torque than a $15,000 diesel. Anyone who wants a capable and reliable truck would pick an electric vehicle with a range extender over the vastly more complex diesel with a transmission.
 

rruff

Explorer
Anyone who wants a capable and reliable truck would pick an electric vehicle with a range extender over the vastly more complex diesel with a transmission.
Like Ram and the 3.6L V6 they'll likely use an existing engine and it won't be dinky. So compared to the diesel truck, the hybrid loses the transmission, but adds a generator, large battery system, electric motors, and the electronics to make that all play together. As you said, the engine will be cheaper but it might have turbos as well. I think the hybrid is clearly more complex and will be less reliable. Especially so as new tech. Ford would be better at pulling it off than Ram, though.
 

CappyJax

Member
Like Ram and the 3.6L V6 they'll likely use an existing engine and it won't be dinky. So compared to the diesel truck, the hybrid loses the transmission, but adds a generator, large battery system, electric motors, and the electronics to make that all play together. As you said, the engine will be cheaper but it might have turbos as well. I think the hybrid is clearly more complex and will be less reliable. Especially so as new tech. Ford would be better at pulling it off than Ram, though.
Why would you want a turbo on a generator with a constant speed?
Also, it is very easy to have 600HP electric that can provide that power all the time.
 

yamaha225

Active member
This is pretty similar to what Edison motors is doing. Theirs is still new but seems extremely promising both in the semi truck variant and pickup truck kits they’re working on with the Deboss garage YouTube channel. They’re using fairly small diesels as the generator.
 

Jeremy P.

Adventurer
This is pretty similar to what Edison motors is doing. Theirs is still new but seems extremely promising both in the semi truck variant and pickup truck kits they’re working on with the Deboss garage YouTube channel. They’re using fairly small diesels as the generator.
I've watched some of their videos and it's cool that they started down that path because of the logging truck use case, where the truck is usually going uphill empty and downhill heavily loaded so the extra potential energy of the load is able to be captured.

Kind of like these dump trucks that gain energy from the rock they're hauling downhill:
 

yamaha225

Active member
I've watched some of their videos and it's cool that they started down that path because of the logging truck use case, where the truck is usually going uphill empty and downhill heavily loaded so the extra potential energy of the load is able to be captured.

Kind of like these dump trucks that gain energy from the rock they're hauling downhill:
It’s super cool, and it’s outside the box thinking like this that we need more of in the world.
 

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