Photo: Ford
If you’re not into cars – and I’m sure that’s not the case considering the website you're on - you may not know that Ford has doubled down on electrification in the past couple of years. The Mustang is now available as an electric crossover, the F-150 can be had with the PowerBoost hybrid V6 engine, and the Explorer is available both as an HEV and PHEV.
Vice, however, isn’t an automotive website. It’s many things to many people, but the American-Canadian company leans to the left so much that their bias is controversial at best. Vice also happens to label the all-new Bronco as “an obscene monument to climate denialism” in a very flawed, very biased story.
Let’s start with the introduction, shall we? “In the year 2020, there is simply no excuse for releasing a brand-new SUV without so much as a hybrid option.” Vice is pushing it, and it's pushing it too for not mentioning anything about the Dearborn-based automaker's 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Last May, the Ford Motor Company explicitly confirmed “hybrid electrics” like the Explorer and Bronco, and they've already delivered in the Explorer's case.
The left-leaning publication has also described the newcomer as “best known for transporting a fugitive along a Southern California freeway,” probably the pettiest thing to say in relation to both Ford and O.J. Simpson. But the kicker is that Vice is trying to convince its readers that the Bronco “was never an especially popular vehicle because it was never an especially practical one.”
Right...
Comparing the production numbers of the original from the 1960s and the previous generation from the 1990s to modern body-on-frame SUVs is not how market research works. Vice also compares the Bronco’s total sales volume to the number of F-Series pickup trucks that Ford sold in 2019, which is a totally different segment and demographic. That's not pespective; that's just wrong.
Another quote that’s meant to shame 2021 Ford Bronco buyers into giving up on their reservations is “SUVs are bad for the environment because they get worse gas mileage than smaller, lighter cars.” If Vice knew that all of the Big Three in Detroit were wrestled into dropping traditional cars like the Fusion for SUVs because that's what consumers want, they would have come up with a better argument than throwing a Greta Thunberg-style tantrum.
The final paragraph of the write-up on Vice is meant to bring more shame to Bronco customers and Ford, underlining yet again that customers “won’t have the option” of a hybrid. Spoiler alert: the hybrid - or plug-in hybrid - option is likely to roll out next year for the 2022 model year.
Why? Well, the most obvious reason is that Jeep is on the brink of launching the Wrangler 4xe. An all-electric option has also been confirmed by Fiat Chrysler, and it'll also be available as a Rubicon. Oh, and by the way, chief exec Jim Hackett announced two years ago that Ford will invest $11 billion in green machines in order to launch 40 hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and EVs.
Vice has gingerly forgotten to mention that Jeep is preparing to roll out the 6.4-liter HEMI V8 in the Wrangler in 2021 whereas the Bronco comes standard with a four-cylinder turbo and an available twin-turbo V6 from the EcoBoost family. We don’t have EPA fuel economy figures for the Bronco, but we can get a good idea about the potential of these engines by checking out the Ranger and F-150.
The 2.3-liter EcoBoost returns 23 mpg on the combined cycle while the 2.7-liter option in the half-ton workhorse is rated at 22 mpg. Comparing these figures to the 1990s Bronco would be wrong, so let us settle for two modern-day equivalents.
With the Duramax 2.8-liter turbo diesel, the Chevy Colorado tops 23 miles per gallon combined. The 2.7-liter Tripower turbo four-cylinder in the Silverado 1500, on the other hand, offers worse fuel economy in real-world driving than the small-block V8 and the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 that Ford offers in the F-150 and Bronco.
In conclusion, the Bronco isn't "an obscene monument to climate denialism."
UPDATE
"EV Coaching" is one of the digital instrument cluster's display modes. This feature indirectly confirms that a plug-in hybrid Bronco is in the works.
Let’s start with the introduction, shall we? “In the year 2020, there is simply no excuse for releasing a brand-new SUV without so much as a hybrid option.” Vice is pushing it, and it's pushing it too for not mentioning anything about the Dearborn-based automaker's 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Last May, the Ford Motor Company explicitly confirmed “hybrid electrics” like the Explorer and Bronco, and they've already delivered in the Explorer's case.
The left-leaning publication has also described the newcomer as “best known for transporting a fugitive along a Southern California freeway,” probably the pettiest thing to say in relation to both Ford and O.J. Simpson. But the kicker is that Vice is trying to convince its readers that the Bronco “was never an especially popular vehicle because it was never an especially practical one.”
Right...
Comparing the production numbers of the original from the 1960s and the previous generation from the 1990s to modern body-on-frame SUVs is not how market research works. Vice also compares the Bronco’s total sales volume to the number of F-Series pickup trucks that Ford sold in 2019, which is a totally different segment and demographic. That's not pespective; that's just wrong.
Another quote that’s meant to shame 2021 Ford Bronco buyers into giving up on their reservations is “SUVs are bad for the environment because they get worse gas mileage than smaller, lighter cars.” If Vice knew that all of the Big Three in Detroit were wrestled into dropping traditional cars like the Fusion for SUVs because that's what consumers want, they would have come up with a better argument than throwing a Greta Thunberg-style tantrum.
The final paragraph of the write-up on Vice is meant to bring more shame to Bronco customers and Ford, underlining yet again that customers “won’t have the option” of a hybrid. Spoiler alert: the hybrid - or plug-in hybrid - option is likely to roll out next year for the 2022 model year.
Why? Well, the most obvious reason is that Jeep is on the brink of launching the Wrangler 4xe. An all-electric option has also been confirmed by Fiat Chrysler, and it'll also be available as a Rubicon. Oh, and by the way, chief exec Jim Hackett announced two years ago that Ford will invest $11 billion in green machines in order to launch 40 hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and EVs.
Vice has gingerly forgotten to mention that Jeep is preparing to roll out the 6.4-liter HEMI V8 in the Wrangler in 2021 whereas the Bronco comes standard with a four-cylinder turbo and an available twin-turbo V6 from the EcoBoost family. We don’t have EPA fuel economy figures for the Bronco, but we can get a good idea about the potential of these engines by checking out the Ranger and F-150.
The 2.3-liter EcoBoost returns 23 mpg on the combined cycle while the 2.7-liter option in the half-ton workhorse is rated at 22 mpg. Comparing these figures to the 1990s Bronco would be wrong, so let us settle for two modern-day equivalents.
With the Duramax 2.8-liter turbo diesel, the Chevy Colorado tops 23 miles per gallon combined. The 2.7-liter Tripower turbo four-cylinder in the Silverado 1500, on the other hand, offers worse fuel economy in real-world driving than the small-block V8 and the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 that Ford offers in the F-150 and Bronco.
In conclusion, the Bronco isn't "an obscene monument to climate denialism."
UPDATE
"EV Coaching" is one of the digital instrument cluster's display modes. This feature indirectly confirms that a plug-in hybrid Bronco is in the works.
Google News