I hope the Bronco Sport will come with a PHEV version based on the Lincoln Corsair. 266 hp total, so it should be competitive with the RAV4 Prime and should be <7 seconds to 60.I would suspect we are going to see a 4x4 hybrid / electric vehicle war of sorts starting... now -- as people want to "get the he_ _ out after COVID, mirrored by possible scary gas prices over the next 4 years. The 4x4 hybrid / electric vehicle race is on.
GMC sold out of their $100k EV Hummers almost overnight -- with deliveries of 2022+! You cannot find a Rav4 Prime XSE anywhere in the US without a $10k to $20k dealer mark-up. The first company to produce a great looking, 300+ HP (0-60 < 7 seconds), 10"+ ground clearance, 4x4 or all wheel drive, reasonable sized, 500 miles+ EV or hybrid combination range for under $50k will sell them as fast as they can make them. The problem right now is no single vehicle combines what everyone wants, or at least has options to create such a vehicle.
Nissan would fix their financial issues overnight if they re-designed the Xterra to be "this" vehicle. (Feel free to call me....lol). Or Ford could design an "Explorer Raptor Hybrid" and I'll buy it tomorrow!
Edit: Explorer Raptor concept: NICE!!!
https://fordauthority.com/2020/06/we-render-the-ford-explorer-raptor-thats-ready-to-rip-up-some-trails/
All the 4WD PHEVs in this class have the rear wheels driven by electricity only, I assume for cost savings. In the RAV4, these rear motors are weak and correspondingly the front motors are powerful (easy to spin). Not ideal. The Corsair's rear motors are considerably more powerful than the RAV4 making the front/rear power more balanced, and more useful off road
The other issue with all electric in the rear is that the rear motors can run out of power after the relatively large PHEV battery is extinguished (down to regular hybrid battery level). This means you loose 4WD capabioity and is exactly what happened to the Mitsubishi PHEV in the Rebelle Rally. Ford will probably have to work on a battery conservation mode that will be specifically for maintaining 4WD as long as possible on "off-raod" vehicle such as the Bronco Sport.
Sponsored