Owning the Ford F-150 Hybrid for Two Years Is Disappointing
Oh no, critics had the Ford F-150 Hybrid for two years and nearly 30,000 miles, but things didn’t end well. When this large, fuel-efficient truck came out, it set the bar pretty high. However, the Ford F-150 Hybrid falls short of expectations.
How many miles per gallon does the Ford F-150 Hybrid get?
The Ford F-150 Hybrid is supposed to get an EPA-estimated 24 mpg in the city and up to 25 mpg on the highway. This is great for a massive pickup truck with plenty of power. However, the team at Cars.com was disappointed.
After two years of ownership, they seem to only get about 17.1 mpg. This was while driving in the city, on cross-country road trips, and towing. Pulling an airstream trailer dropped the fuel economy to 16.2 mpg. The highest average they managed to achieve was 19.4 mpg.
But it does have a 30.6-gallon fuel tank is convenient. You don’t have to fill up often. But it may fall short of its 700-mile range between fill-ups.
Also, the 3.5-liter V6 engine is paired with an electric motor to generate 430 hp and 570 lb-ft of torque. It can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 5.4 seconds. It has plenty of power for passing others on the highway and merging into traffic.
The F-150 Hybrid has reliability issues
The Ford F-150 Hybrid is a new model, and it’s not uncommon for vehicles to have issues during the first year of production. However, the F-150 Hybrid caused a few different headaches.
For example, the undercarriage immediately became covered with rust. The rust made it look like a much older vehicle, which can be concerning. But reportedly, the rust is only cosmetic and doesn’t cause any corrosion or damage.
The F-150 Hybrid has an active air dam that automatically deploys at speeds above 40 mph to reduce drag. This can help improve the truck’s fuel economy.
But while Cars.com had their truck, the active air dam was damaged twice. It costs $1,161 to replace and boosts efficiency by four percent. It was ripped off the first time and damaged by debris the second time. Removing it could be more beneficial than replacing it multiple times.
There were tons of recalls to deal with too. Some issues, like the driveshaft recall, required replacement parts that were out of stock for months.
At times there were noticeable software bugs and issues with connectivity. The system would glitch and freeze. Also, BlueCruise didn’t seem very polished or refined at first. But these issues were solved by software updates.
The F-150 PowerBoost is massive
Some drivers at Cars.com live in the city and don’t like how massive the Ford F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid is. It was impossible to park on the street and difficult to maneuver in tight areas. Things were difficult even with the help of multiple camera views.
The turning radius is between 23.9 – 25.55 feet, which is pretty wide. But the parking assist features and camera visibility do make a difference. We found our F-150 Hybrid model to be nimble in the city.
Also, other members of the team loved the truck’s size. The rear seat has tons of passenger room, and the truck bed has excellent cargo capacity. It has enough power to pull campers, and the onboard generator can power campsites.
It’s large enough to keep the entire family comfortable. But we can admit that large vehicles take practice to master.
While the F-150 Hybrid is fast, large, capable, and comfortable, the team at Cars.com wouldn’t buy it again. They were too disappointed by the size, fuel economy, and quality.
