In case you can survive in Iceland, you’ll be able to survive anywhere. That applies to people… and cars.
So, what higher place to launch a go-anywhere dual-cab ute? That’s exactly how Ford saw it, because the American manufacturer invited us to fly all the best way from Melbourne to Reykjavik, Iceland to experience the brand new Ranger PHEV.
Sold alongside regular diesel versions of the Ranger in Australia, the PHEV makes all the identical guarantees of unrivalled towing capability, off-road capability and liveability. That’s right, Ford says it’ll ‘still do ute things’.
It’ll also do plug-in hybrid things, like drive solely on electric power, offer exportable electricity, and devour less fuel than your standard dual-cab. The extent to which it may well do those things (particularly the EV thing) is restricted, nonetheless, by a comparatively small 11.8kWh (usable) lithium-ion drive battery.
But it may well still do ute things! Which brings us back to Iceland, and the day-long drive curated to exhibit the PHEV’s prowess, each on- and off-road.
Our place to begin was the capital city of Reykjavik, home to a population of roughly 140,000 people. For context, that’s lower than you’ll find in Geelong, Cairns or Newcastle. In other words, it’s more of a sleepy coastal town than a sprawling metropolis.
Still, it feels positively bustling in comparison with what lies outside the town limits.
The primary leg of our drive involved a northbound highway stint on Route 1, the predominant national road that circles the whole island, and it quickly became clear that Iceland is made up of barely-touched wilderness broken up by small towns, none of which have names that may easily be pronounced by Aussies such as you or me.
Traffic was minimal and the highway relatively straight, so our attention quickly turned to the Ranger and its recent party tricks. Amongst those is the battery and electric motor pairing, which permit for each hybrid and EV driving.
Ford claims that the Ranger PHEV can travel as much as 49km on electric power alone. We tested that and fell well short, managing just 33km with two passengers and minimal baggage onboard. Nevertheless, most of those kilometres were chalked up on the highway – a demanding test of EV range.
In Australia, the Ranger PHEV is in comparison with the likes of the BYD Shark 6 and GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV. My takeaway from our little experiment was that if you happen to’re planning to circumnavigate Iceland’s ring road without expelling any CO2, those plug-in hybrid ute alternatives come up trumps.
We also clocked a 0-100km/h sprint of 8.95 seconds – make of that what you’ll.
On-road performance and fuel efficiency is very important, but Ford was more all for proving that the Ranger PHEV is a correct workhorse worthy of the badge, an intent proven during our morning breakfast stop at Kleif Farm.
Situated about 40 minutes north of Reykjavik, Kleif Farm is a getaway villa situated amongst high peaks, flowing water and dirt tracks, the latter providing an ideal opportunity to load up the Ranger PHEV for a fast towing test.
Somewhat remarkably this was my first time towing, and while hazards were few and much between, I used to be a little bit nervous. Thankfully, the Ranger was as much as the duty, with enough grunt to tug a trailer filled with heavy hay bales across the property.
Given my inexperience, we then had a mess around with the Pro Trailer Backup Assist feature, which means that you can ‘steer’ the trailer using the outer ring of the drive mode controller on the centre console. It feels quite unnatural at first, but after some practice I earned a pat on the back for neatly backing the trailer right into a creekside parking spot.
The Ranger PHEV is rated to tow as much as 3.5 tonnes like its diesel-powered siblings, but it surely’s value noting that we’ve previously observed the smaller EcoBoost petrol engine feels particularly strained when attempting to haul anything above 2.0 tonnes.
Ford also used the stop off at Kleif Farm to exhibit ‘Pro Power Onboard’, otherwise often known as exportable power in the shape of two 15A power outlets built into the Ranger PHEV’s tub. These could be used to power a wide selection of power tools, electronics and camping equipment – on this case a giant circular saw.
It’s a feature that Ford is pushing as a part of the Ranger PHEV sales pitch, and it’s not the one manufacturer to accomplish that. Just last 12 months I attended the BYD Shark 6 launch in Broken Hill, during which we were served coffee out of the tubs of the test vehicles – a neat touch.
Each models can function a mobile cafe, but Ford has BYD and GWM covered for output capability. There’s only a lot you’ll be able to do with a stationary ute though, so we hit the highway again searching for a brand new challenge.
Looping around east towards the centre of the island, the natural fantastic thing about Iceland once more took centre stage.
June marks the start of summer here, and meaning the melting of ice, yellowing of grass and seemingly countless 20-hour days. Glaciers and volcanoes also dot the barren landscape, hence why Iceland is often known as ‘the land of fireside and ice’.
I spent most of this leg within the passenger seat, gazing out the window with camera in hand, awestruck. Nevertheless, a fast glance across on the instrument cluster revealed our test vehicle was now running on an empty battery, and consuming upwards of 9.0L/100km in consequence.
That type of figure might be familiar to diesel Ranger owners, but it surely’s not quite what you’re after from a hybrid. The takeaway here is that PHEVs need a charged battery to make sense, especially when that battery plays an element in so many key vehicle functions.
The second leg of our journey wrapped up in ‘Springfield’. No, not that Springfield, for all you Simpsons fans on the market. Slightly, this was a small town at the bottom of a not-so-small volcano. And, unlike the setting of The Simpsons, here you’ll find geothermal hot springs bursting up through the earth.
This shouldn’t have come as a surprise, as Iceland is probably the most volcanic island on the earth. Eruptions occur roughly every five years, although the frequency of such events has increased in recent times.
The Reykjanes Peninsula has seen nine eruptions since 2023, the primary of which resulted within the evacuation of 4000 people from the town of Grindavík within the country’s south. A lot of the town’s residents haven’t returned since, with many homes sold to the state.
Thankfully, the Grensdalur Volcano remained sedate during our visit, allowing for some nearby off-roading within the Ranger PHEV. Ford’s planned route included a combination of river crossings, gravel tracks, and proper mountain ascents, all of which brought out different characteristics of the Ranger.
We cycled through the four-wheel drive drive modes throughout – 4H for flatter sections of dirt, 4L for the steeper, more aggressive climbs, and even turned to Hill Descent Control (HDC) on the best way back down the mountain.
Not one of the water crossings we made were particularly treacherous, as you’ll probably notice in the pictures below. Nevertheless, it was comforting to know the battery is protected by its position above the rear axle.
The Ranger PHEV retains all of the vital kit fitted to plain diesel variants, including a rear differential lock, the aforementioned 4WD modes, and underbody protection.
One key difference between the models is that the PHEV is able to silent EV off-roading, although our depleted battery wasn’t really in a state to supply this. Nevertheless, the turbo-petrol engine within the PHEV is quieter than its diesel counterpart, and we were in a position to reach the ultimate peak without making a distasteful racket.
The summit provided an elevated vantage point of a landscape we had only previously seen from ground level, and boy was it an enlightening view. Not because there was plenty to see – quite the alternative, actually.
Our guide shared that arctic foxes were the one creatures to be found on the island when the Vikings first arrived some 12 centuries ago, and never much seems to have modified since.
Bar the native horses and just a few sheep, wildlife is difficult to return by. Because for all its rugged charm, Iceland continues to be a desolate and harsh place to call home.
Its unforgiving nature has given rise to impressive feats of human innovation, including a geothermal energy network made up of enormous pipelines that transport each hot water and steam, the latter used to generate electricity for the nation.
We got here across a few of these pipes during our descent, but I wouldn’t recommend getting too close – the presence of hydrogen sulfide makes the air smell like rotten eggs… no thanks!
Moving swiftly onward, a spaghetti-like set of loose gravel trails led us back to the bottom of the mountain, all cars still in good health.
Ford hardly asked us to beat on their brand-new machines, however the Ranger PHEV seems a welcome addition to the dual-cab ute market, and a worthy rival to the 2 big name plug-in hybrids from China.
A final highway stint brought our expedition to an end, not more than eight hours after it begun. Short and sweet, as they are saying.
For me, that meant boarding a plane back to Melbourne the following morning, but the identical couldn’t be said for our Blue Oval chariots. That’s since the Ranger PHEV is ready to be a staple of Iceland’s ute market, even though it won’t come low-cost – a diesel Ranger Wildtrak retails for the equivalent of A$155,000, as all cars are generally dearer here.
Without being an authority on the Icelandic automobile market, I couldn’t tell the locals whether that’s decent value. But what I can say is that the Ford Ranger PHEV is perhaps a little bit different, but it may well still do ‘ute things’.
This Article First Appeared At www.carexpert.com.au
