Where is the 2026 Ford Everest PHEV? The update on the plug-in hybrid version of Australia's best-selling large SUV and Toyota Prado, Isuzu MU-X rival

With the eagerly-anticipated Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) finally hitting showrooms in the middle of this year to give the BYD Shark 6 PHEV a run for its money, is that where this level of electrification development stops on the T6.2 platform?

With mounting speculation that the closely-related Everest large SUV might be next for a PHEV application, we pitched the question to Ford's most senior executive recently, to gain a bit more clarity on the subject.

After all, with overall PHEV sales in Australia soaring by nearly 290 per cent in the first three months of this year, and the BYD Sealion 6 PHEV charging up the charts with over 2000 units sold, the appetite is clearly there.

That said, however, Ford Australia President, Andrew Birkic, proved elusive when asked about the possibility of a plug-in Everest.

“I’m sure there is (consumer call for Everest PHEV),” he told the media at the Ford Australia’s 100^th anniversary celebrations in Melbourne.

“(But) we’ve got nothing to share on that. We’re here to talk about the Ranger Super Duty.”

For what it's worth, it seems the Everest PHEV program could not get off the ground for several reasons, including cost and resource issues. And, as it turns out, bad timing.

In the past, Ford engineers have stated that, even though the development of a Ranger PHEV makes an Everest PHEV possible due to their many similarities, it’s what makes them different that stands in the way.

In a nutshell, while the ute can accommodate the large battery pack required by (not so simply, as I turned out) just placing it under a raised load-bay floor and above the T6.2’s rear chassis rails, the Everest’s completely different floorpan would require much more money to re-engineer.

Plus, the South African production centre that builds the Ranger PHEV seems to only have limited capacity for making the battery pack, almost guaranteeing that the plug-in ute will remain a relatively niche product within the model range.

We also understand that, additionally, the cost of a different and likely redesigned battery pack also deemed necessary might have ended such a pursuit.

These road blocks mean that it may not have been economic for Ford to consider such a program even as recently as just two years ago, when PHEV demand was low and rivals were limited to mainly the Mitsubishi Outlander and GWM Haval H6 plug-ins.

Factor in fairly modest Everest diesel volume before the advent of the redesigned UB-series released in 2022, where it was regularly outsold by the Toyota Prado and Isuzu MU-X, and a workable return on investment probably did not add up.

However, in range-anxious big-distance Australia, many consumers are reconsidering the merits of stepping all the way up to an electric SUV, when a PHEV provides some of the electrification benefits, but without any fear of running out of charge.

And with new-model PHEVs from China arriving in increasingly large numbers, we felt it was time to put the Everest PHEV question out to Ford again.

Finally, there is the question of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) kicking off from July 1, 2025, that incentivises manufacturers to offer more fuel-efficient models or face stiff penalties.

An Everest PHEV would be an ideal candidate in today's environment, but the only SUV that Ford Australia can currently rely on that meets the NVES is the slow-selling and expensive Mustang Mach-E.

Which means that, ultimately, Ford will have to invest further into electrification if it is to avoid heavy fines later in this decade in Australia. And if the Everest continues to sell as strongly as it has, the likelihood is high that something is in the pipeline.

We'll continue to ask the PHEV question, so please watch this space.