In the event you can survive in Iceland, you may survive anyplace. That applies to individuals… and automobiles.
So, what higher place to launch a go-anywhere dual-cab ute? That’s precisely how Ford noticed it, because the American producer invited us to fly all the way in which from Melbourne to Reykjavik, Iceland to expertise the brand new Ranger PHEV.
Bought alongside common diesel variations of the Ranger in Australia, the PHEV makes all the identical guarantees of unrivalled towing capability, off-road functionality and liveability. That’s proper, Ford says it’ll ‘nonetheless do ute issues’.
It’ll additionally do plug-in hybrid issues, like drive solely on electrical energy, supply exportable electrical energy, and devour much less gasoline than your normal dual-cab. The extent to which it will probably do these issues (notably the EV factor) is restricted, nonetheless, by a comparatively small 11.8kWh (usable) lithium-ion drive battery.
However it will probably nonetheless do ute issues! Which brings us again to Iceland, and the day-long drive curated to display the PHEV’s prowess, each on- and off-road.
Our place to begin was the capital metropolis of Reykjavik, residence to a inhabitants of roughly 140,000 individuals. For context, that’s lower than you’ll discover in Geelong, Cairns or Newcastle. In different phrases, it’s extra of a sleepy coastal city than a sprawling metropolis.
Nonetheless, it feels positively bustling in comparison with what lies outdoors the town limits.
The primary leg of our drive concerned a northbound freeway stint on Route 1, the principle nationwide street that circles the whole island, and it shortly turned clear that Iceland is made up of barely-touched wilderness damaged up by small cities, none of which have names that may simply be pronounced by Aussies such as you or me.
Site visitors was minimal and the freeway comparatively straight, so our consideration shortly turned to the Ranger and its new get together tips. Amongst these is the battery and electrical motor pairing, which permit for each hybrid and EV driving.
Ford claims that the Ranger PHEV can journey as much as 49km on electrical energy alone. We examined that and fell nicely brief, managing simply 33km with two passengers and minimal baggage onboard. Nonetheless, most of these kilometres had been chalked up on the freeway – a demanding check of EV vary.
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 should you’re planning to circumnavigate Iceland’s ring street with out expelling any CO2, these plug-in hybrid ute alternate options come up trumps.
We additionally clocked a 0-100km/h dash of 8.95 seconds – make of that what you’ll.
On-road efficiency and gasoline effectivity is essential, however Ford was extra fascinated by proving that the Ranger PHEV is a correct workhorse worthy of the badge, an intent confirmed throughout our morning breakfast cease at Kleif Farm.
Located about 40 minutes north of Reykjavik, Kleif Farm is a getaway villa located amongst excessive peaks, flowing water and grime tracks, the latter offering an ideal alternative to load up the Ranger PHEV for a fast towing check.
Considerably remarkably this was my first time towing, and whereas hazards had been few and much between, I used to be a bit of nervous. Fortunately, the Ranger was as much as the duty, with sufficient grunt to tug a trailer stuffed with heavy hay bales across the property.
Given my inexperience, we then had a mess around with the Professional Trailer Backup Help characteristic, which lets you ‘steer’ the trailer utilizing the outer ring of the drive mode controller on the centre console. It feels fairly unnatural at first, however after some follow I earned a pat on the again 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 price noting that we’ve beforehand noticed the smaller EcoBoost petrol engine feels notably strained when attempting to haul something above 2.0 tonnes.
Ford additionally used the cease off at Kleif Farm to display ‘Professional Energy Onboard’, in any other case often called exportable energy within the type of two 15A energy retailers constructed into the Ranger PHEV’s tub. These can be utilized to energy a wide selection of energy instruments, electronics and tenting gear – on this case an enormous round noticed.
It’s a characteristic that Ford is pushing as a part of the Ranger PHEV gross sales pitch, and it’s not the one producer to take action. Simply final yr I attended the BYD Shark 6 launch in Damaged Hill, throughout which we had been served espresso out of the tubs of the check autos – a neat contact.
Each fashions can function a cell cafe, however Ford has BYD and GWM lined for output capability. There’s solely a lot you are able to do with a stationary ute although, so we hit the freeway once more in quest of a brand new problem.
Looping round east in direction of the centre of the island, the pure great thing about Iceland as soon as once more took centre stage.
June marks the start of summer time right here, and meaning the melting of ice, yellowing of grass and seemingly countless 20-hour days. Glaciers and volcanoes additionally dot the barren panorama, therefore why Iceland is named ‘the land of fireplace and ice’.
I spent most of this leg within the passenger seat, gazing out the window with digicam in hand, awestruck. Nonetheless, a fast look throughout on the instrument cluster revealed our check automobile was now working on an empty battery, and consuming upwards of 9.0L/100km in consequence.
That kind of determine shall be acquainted to diesel Ranger homeowners, but it surely’s not fairly what you’re after from a hybrid. The takeaway right here is that PHEVs want a charged battery to make sense, particularly when that battery performs an element in so many key automobile features.
The second leg of our journey wrapped up in ‘Springfield’. No, not that Springfield, for all you Simpsons followers on the market. Fairly, this was a small city on the base of a not-so-small volcano. And, in contrast to the setting of The Simpsons, right here you’ll discover geothermal scorching springs bursting up by the earth.
This shouldn’t have come as a shock, as Iceland is essentially the most volcanic island on this planet. Eruptions happen roughly each 5 years, though the frequency of such occasions has elevated in recent times.
The Reykjanes Peninsula has seen 9 eruptions since 2023, the primary of which resulted within the evacuation of 4000 individuals from the city of Grindavík within the nation’s south. A lot of the city’s residents haven’t returned since, with many properties bought to the state.
Fortunately, the Grensdalur Volcano remained sedate throughout our go to, permitting for some close by off-roading within the Ranger PHEV. Ford’s deliberate route included a mixture of river crossings, gravel tracks, and correct mountain ascents, all of which introduced out completely different traits of the Ranger.
We cycled by the four-wheel drive drive modes all through – 4H for flatter sections of grime, 4L for the steeper, extra aggressive climbs, and even turned to Hill Descent Management (HDC) on the way in which again down the mountain.
Not one of the water crossings we made had been notably treacherous, as you’ll in all probability discover within the photos under. Nonetheless, it was comforting to know the battery is protected by its place above the rear axle.
The Ranger PHEV retains all of the essential equipment fitted to straightforward diesel variants, together with a rear differential lock, the aforementioned 4WD modes, and underbody safety.
One key distinction between the fashions is that the PHEV is able to silent EV off-roading, though our depleted battery wasn’t actually in a state to supply this. Nonetheless, the turbo-petrol engine within the PHEV is quieter than its diesel counterpart, and we had been in a position to attain the ultimate peak with out making a distasteful racket.
The summit supplied an elevated vantage level of a panorama we had solely beforehand seen from floor degree, and boy was it an enlightening view. Not as a result of there was loads to see – fairly the other, the truth is.
Our information shared that arctic foxes had been the one creatures to be discovered on the island when the Vikings first arrived some 12 centuries in the past, and never a lot appears to have modified since.
Bar the native horses and some sheep, wildlife is tough to return by. As a result of for all its rugged attraction, Iceland remains to be a desolate and harsh place to name residence.
Its unforgiving nature has given rise to spectacular feats of human innovation, together with a geothermal power community made up of enormous pipelines that transport each scorching water and steam, the latter used to generate electrical energy for the nation.
We got here throughout a few of these pipes throughout our descent, however I wouldn’t suggest getting too shut – the presence of hydrogen sulfide makes the air odor like rotten eggs… no thanks!
Transferring swiftly onward, a spaghetti-like set of free gravel trails led us again to the bottom of the mountain, all automobiles nonetheless in good well being.
Ford hardly requested us to beat on their brand-new machines, however the Ranger PHEV appears a welcome addition to the dual-cab ute market, and a worthy rival to the 2 huge identify plug-in hybrids from China.
A closing freeway stint introduced our expedition to an finish, not more than eight hours after it begun. Brief and candy, as they are saying.
For me, that meant boarding a airplane again to Melbourne the following morning, however the identical couldn’t be stated for our Blue Oval chariots. That’s as a result of the Ranger PHEV is about to be a staple of Iceland’s ute market, though it gained’t come low-cost – a diesel Ranger Wildtrak retails for the equal of A$155,000, as all automobiles are usually dearer right here.
With out being an skilled on the Icelandic automobile market, I couldn’t inform the locals whether or not that’s first rate worth. However what I can say is that the Ford Ranger PHEV could be a bit of completely different, however it will probably nonetheless do ‘ute issues’.
