Electric Ford 'Bronco' and 'Ranger' in the works

The Ford F-150 is going electric and it looks like the rest of Ford's truck lineup will soon be following it.

The automaker has announced two new purpose-built electric vehicle platforms this week that will underpin full-size trucks and smaller vehicles, with several on the way by the end of the decade.

Ford's chief product platform and operations officer Hua Thai-Tang said the smaller architecture would be used on an upcoming electric Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, but also on two potentially more entertaining models.

One is a "rugged SUV" that was depicted with a line drawing that had a similar shape to the upcoming Ford Bronco and the other a "midsize" pickup the size of a Ranger.

An all-new Ford Bronco is launching this year with four- and six-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engines, but is already facing electrified off-road competition from the plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler 4xe, which will be followed by the all-electric Rivian R1T and GMC Hummer EV later this year.

At a preview event for the electric F-150 Lighting, which uses a modified version of the current F-150's body-on-frame platform, Fox News Autos asked Ford's general manager of battery electric vehicles, Darren Palmer, if electric vehicles like the Bronco and Ranger were on the way.

"You can imagine we're working on best selling icon vehicles across the rest of the range," he said.

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The F-150 Lightning is scheduled to go on sale in Spring 2022 and will be preceded by an electric Ford Transit van this fall, but the exact timing for additional electric models has not been announced.