The Ford F-150 Hybrid is out, and it doesn’t appear to go for the gold in gas mileage. Mercedes-Benz has a new partner to help make its cars perpetually upgradable machines. And California is mandating that commercial trucks go electric. This and more, here at Green Car Reports.
Thursday evening, Ford revealed the next generation of the longtime best-selling vehicle in the U.S., the Ford F-150. That includes the 2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid, which is badged PowerBoost, with an onboard-generator system and an emphasis on supporting high payloads and towing.
That merited an analysis, given how Ford has chosen to position the F-150 Hybrid, of what this might reveal about the Ford F-150 Electric that’s due in 2022.
Just days after Mercedes-Benz and BMW suspended a partnership for autonomous-vehicle development, Mercedes-Benz and Nvidia announced they’re partnering to develop a new computing architecture that will underpin future Mercedes vehicles—allowing easy Tesla-style over-the-air updates, future autonomous-driving functions, and the idea of a “perpetually upgradable machine.”
California has adopted a mandate to make the state’s commercial-vehicle fleet electric—resulting in about 100,000 zero-emission trucks in the state by 2030 and 300,000 by 2035. Follow-up regulations might also require tighter emissions controls for diesel trucks.
And over at our partner site The Car Connection: The smallest Toyota passenger car for the U.S. market, the Yaris, will go away after the 2020 model year.
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