Last month, we unearthed fascinating information suggesting that the new Ford Ranger PHEV would be built at the Silverton plant here in South Africa … and now the Blue Oval brand has confirmed it!

After some extensive digging, Cars.co.za uncovered fresh information strongly suggesting the new Ford Ranger PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) will be built at the Silverton assembly plant in South Africa, in what would be a boon for the local automotive manufacturing industry.

UPDATE: Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa confirmed on 8 November 2023 that production of the Ranger PHEV will indeed kick off at its Silverton plant in late 2024 after an investment of R5.2-billion! The Silverton plant will be adapted to accommodate the PHEV derivative and the new model will assembled for both local sales and exported to markets like Europe and for the first time: Australia/New Zealand. Read on for the full, original story from the opening week of October…

When the plug-in hybrid version of the double-cab Ranger was revealed in September 2023, the Blue Oval brand’s only official comment on the topic of production was that it would commence “in late 2024, with deliveries to customers in early 2025”. No mention was made of where the new PHEV derivative would be built.

Production of the new Ranger PHEV is expected to commence late in 2024.

As a reminder, the current-generation Ranger is manufactured at various Ford sites around the world, including Argentina, Thailand (which supplies SA with Raptor units), North America and indeed Silverton here in Mzansi. We asked Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) if Silverton was in line to produce the new electrified Ranger, but the company said it was still “early days” and that there was “nothing to confirm yet”.

So, we started digging. First, we came across an interesting LinkedIn profile belonging to a Ford process engineer based in Chennai, India. Keerthana Suresh’s profile shows she has been in her current role – centred on “battery pack assembly for electrification projects” – since December 2022. On her page, Suresh says she is “currently working” on the Ford Ranger PHEV “battery pack assembly process” for the Silverton plant in South Africa.

A Ford engineer’s LinkedIn page shows she’s working on the Ranger PHEV’s battery pack assembly process for Silverton.

According to the LinkedIn page, Ford issued Suresh with a “high-voltage safety level 1 battery pack assembly” certification (credential ID 18601) in March 2023. Her role in relation to the Silverton plant – which is incidentally also the only facility currently producing the 2nd-generation Volkswagen Amarok – involves the consideration of “high-voltage safety” in battery pack assembly.

Next, we turned to Ford’s global careers website, where we discovered a job listing for a “Battery Assembly Engineering Specialist” to be based in South Africa. Furthermore, as recently as 3 October 2023, Ford’s local division posted 3 job advertisements on its official PNET profile, with the automaker seeking to recruit an Engineering Specialist, Battery Assembly (likely the same role as above); an Engineering Controls Specialist, Battery Assembly; and a Production Process Coach, Battery Assembly.

Ford SA is advertising various battery assembly positions on PNET.

Interestingly, clicking in to each advert shows these 3 positions are based in Gqeberha rather than Silverton outside Pretoria, which may further suggest the Blue Oval brand’s Struandale engine plant – which secured a R600-million investment late in 2021 and currently produces the 3.0 V6, 2.0 SiT, 2.0 BiT, 2.2 TDCi and 3.2 TDCi turbodiesel engines – will play a role in the assembly of the upcoming Ranger PHEV’s lithium-ion battery pack (and perhaps the associated 2.3-litre EcoBoost petrol engine, too?).

While none of the job listings detailed above specifically mentions the Ranger PHEV, the bakkie is, of course, the only Ford product built locally. The upcoming model has already been confirmed for various markets in Europe (which, it’s worth noting, is the chief export destination for Silverton-built Ranger units) as well as for Australasia, though not (yet) for South Africa.

The Ranger PHEV combines a turbopetrol engine with an electric motor and battery pack.

The electrified pick-up will employ Ford’s turbocharged 2.3-litre, 4-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine, though in this case it will be paired with an electric motor and a battery pack. According to the Dearborn-based company, the double-cab derivative will boast an all-electric range of “more than 45 km”, while its “targeted” braked towing capacity will be 3 500 kg.

The Ranger plug-in hybrid will also feature something Ford calls “Pro Power Onboard”, which will enable owners to power tools and appliances on a worksite or remote campsite by plugging them into power outlets in both the cargo bed and the cabin.

Dual ports for a dual-powered Ranger.

Based on the discoveries detailed above, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Ford make an official announcement on Silverton production of the Ranger PHEV – and indeed this new electrified bakkie’s eventual availability in the local market – in the months to come.

For the record, South Africa already produces a few dual-powered vehicles in the form of the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid and various Mercedes-Benz C-Class derivatives (including the mild-hybrid Mercedes-AMG C43, the plug-in hybrid Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance and the C300e PHEV, with the latter for export only), while BMW is set to build the next-gen X3 PHEV at Plant Rosslyn from 2024.

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