Everything we know about the new Ford F-150 truck—including the hybrid

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  When the new F-150 arrives this fall, it will be Ford's most technologically advanced truck yet. Burt did you also know there are 11 different styles of front grille? These are just three of them. [credit: Ford ]

On Thursday evening, Ford livestreamed the launch of its newest F-150 pickup truck. It's hard to overstate how important the truck is for Ford; the F-Series has earned the company tens of billions of dollars, and it regularly tops the chart of best-selling light vehicles in the US market. So redesigning the truck for its 14th generation is not a task the company has undertaken lightly—according to the automaker, more than a thousand hours of customer research has informed this latest evolution of an American staple. When it goes on sale this fall, it will be Ford's most advanced light truck ever, with over-the-air updates enabling new features and for the first time, a hybrid option, and a battery EV version due in a year or two.

What’s PowerBoost?

For model year 2021, Ford is providing a variety of options when it comes to powertrains. Most of these carry over from the 13th-generation F-150, including a naturally aspirated 3.3L V6, turbocharged 2.7L and 3.5L V6 EcoBoost engines, a naturally aspirated 5.0L V8, and a 3.0L turbodiesel. (Exact power and torque outputs are not being disclosed yet.) All these use the same 10-speed automatic transmission. As standard, the F-150 is rear-wheel drive, but it can also be configured with all-wheel drive, with an open or locking rear differential.

The new, exciting addition to these is called PowerBoost, which is Ford-speak for a parallel hybrid. It combines the 3.5L EcoBoost V6 with a 35kW (47hp) electric motor that's integrated into the transmission and fed by a 1.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The pack is liquid-cooled and located between the frame rails, so there's no negative effect on interior volume or the load bed. There's no overall power or torque figure yet, but we are told it should tow up to 12,000lbs (5,443kg).

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