Sam Krahn 
The 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor premiered this week, and with it comes advancements in extreme off-road hardware. A new five-link rear coiled suspension, optional 37-inch tires, and improvements in payload and towing are just some of the things that customers will benefit from this new Baja-inspired pickup truck which pioneered a segment that others are only recently moving into.
Now that Ford has revealed the 2021 F-150 Raptor, the next question is whether or not the Raptor would also get a PowerBoost hybrid setup at any point. Additionally, curiosity is swirling as to whether or not the upcoming electric F-150, rumored to be called the E-150, could get the Raptor treatment.
“No. We designed and engineered Raptor to be Raptor,” said Ford F-150 Program Manager, Tony Greco in an interview with MC&T, when asked whether or not the F-150 Electric or F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid were designed with Raptor hardware in mind.
These remarks from Greco also illustrate the fact that the Raptor is so much more than a Ford F-150 with some off-road parts. It’s more of a standalone model in the range, comprehensively reengineered to be an off-road monster from the beginning. For this reason, the truck was designed around a 3.5 liter EcoBoost V6 and that engine only. Ford can’t just stick the Raptor parts around a different powertrain, especially a hugely different electric model.
Keeping the ‘Raptor’ name exclusive to a tried-and-true propulsion setup is likely a customer-driven decision. It’s also a stark contrast from what we’re seeing from the likes of the Rivian R1T and GMC Hummer EV all-electric pickup trucks. These vehicles, running purely on battery power, are aimed at deep-pocketed customers with an affinity for new technology and a desire to venture deep off the beaten path.
In the future, perhaps with the fifteenth-generation F-150, we may see a hybrid or an electric Raptor variant. Just as well, it’s easy to speculate that Ford could introduce some Raptor hardware to the F-150 PowerBoost or so-called E-150 electric pickup truck, but the marketing team could name it something else. Like F-150 Pterodactyl, or F-150 Pachycephalosaurs. Or F-150 Archaeopteryx, as the ancient avian was an evolutionary step up from dinosaurs.
Next year, the 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor R is expected to take the nameplate into an even more extreme direction. Chances are, this is spurned by the introduction of the 702 horsepower, Hellcat-powered Ram TRX.
