America’s mega-ute provisioning in right-hook with a big brother version of Raptor’s twin-turbo V6 has good economy by category standards – but emissions might hurt.

POTENTIAL for Kiwis to achieve access to the F-150 truck via a factory-backed remanufacturing operation based in Melbourne exists, Ford NZ has said today.

 However, there is a potential dark cloud hanging over this foil to the Chevrolet Silverado and RAM product already here. Clean Car, effecting from on April 1.

 A programme which kicks off in mid-2023 and was announced yesterday involves Ford Australia offering two F-150 models – luxury XLT and Lariat grades – both powered by a twin-turbo V6 petrol engine. That unit is a 3.5-litre version of the engine that goes into the Ranger Raptor, which is confirmed for local availability.

 The engine makes 292kW and 583Nm in the 3.0-litre Raptor and develops 298kW and 678Nm for F-150. Ford says it chose the twin turbo V6 petrol engine over V8 or diesel options because it’s the most popular choice in the US, as it promises similar power and torque to the Ram and Chevrolet V8s but with better efficiency. It has yet to cite any figures.

 However, even if burn is reasonable, there’s still an issue in a New Zealand environment: The CO2 count, which even with Ford yet to share figures specific to this vehicle or Ranger Raptor, could be considered high under the new clean air regime.

 Ford NZ communications manager Tom Clancy spoke to this and NZ market potential for F-150 today.

 “The F-150 announced in Australia is not confirmed for New Zealand at this point,” he said.

 “But we have always had a small but steady stream of customer queries for the F-150 in New Zealand, especially for its towing capacity.

 “We are looking into options for NZ and how we could make the F150 available for those Kiwi customers.”

 He confirmed part of that review “will be to ensure it will work in light of the new Clean Car compliance regulations that are planned for 2023 and 2024.”

 The new regulation enacts in its first stage on Friday. From thereon Clean Car requires anyone buying a new (or newly-introduced used) vehicle emitting more than 192 grams of CO2 per kilometre to pay a penalty that offsets the environmental impact. That cost seems to be between $1200 and up to $5500 on top of the recommended retail in respect to new vehicles.

 From January 1, Clean Car regulation ramps up to a new phase, in which distributors also have to start paying a penalty on every high CO2 vehicle they import.

 All utes sold in NZ fall foul of the regulation – hence why it is called the ute tax.

 Ford seems set to be hard hit, because up to 72 percent of its annual volume in recent years has been accounted for by the Ranger.

 The brand is challenged by the new requirements. While it cites belief it’s whole of fleet CO2 average will be just 128 grams per kilometre by the end of this year, the light commercial CO2 average when taken in isolation in 2021 was 235g/km. That’s 53g/km above the national new car fleet average for that period.

 Government is encouraging the new car industry to meet a 139g/km target from 2023 and 105g/km in 2025.

 While Ford locally has yet to share emissions data for its new Ranger arriving in July, the petrol V6 in Fords sold in North America appears to average 11.4 litres per 100km and express around 273g/km.

 That data has resulted in Ford here expressing nervousness already about the impact the flagship Raptor will have, to the point where they have indicated hope it will not be too popular – because of the sting of the entry impost at distributor level.

 There is thought the type might cop a levy of up to $10,000 per unit by the time Clean Car hits its zenith in 2025, by which time the new car CO2 average target is 105g/km, much lower than it is now.

 Ford NZ is aiming to offset its fleet average by introducing electrified editions (meaning a fossil fuelled engine with electric assist) of its passenger models; hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of the Focus and Puma are here soon to stand beside the PHEV Escape, which will soon come with mild hybrid.

 Today overseas’ reports spoke of a fully electric Puma being under development. The only fully electric vehicle it has at the moment is the Transit, and while hope of the Mustang Mach-E is kept, there’s no timeframe of when it will be available.

 In the meantime, a Ranger with an electrified drivetrain is likely, perhaps as early as 2023. That system could conceivably transfer to the Everest, though Ford has yet to say anything.

 The F-150 conversion is being appointed Thailand-based engineering firm RMA to remanufacture the Ford F-150 from left-hand-drive to right-hand-drive in a new facility not far from the former Falcon assembly line in Broadmeadows, Melbourne.