Ford Walks Back on Diesel F-150

This past week the news spread like a California wildfire. We read about it in several articles. This one by Joe Patel, from Cars Direct, has a pretty good summary of the report. 

Many observers noticed the absence of a diesel option in the 2021 F-150 last year, but then Ford seemed to have a change of plans and the Power Stroke V6 became available later. This year, Ford Authority announced that the diesel engine for F-150s is to be a thing of the past. This leaves five engine options for F-150 buyers: a 3.3-liter V6, turbocharged 2.7-liter V6, turbocharged 3.5-liter V6, hybrid turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 and a 5.0-liter V8. 

According to Car and Driver, it's the popularity of these other engines, such as the EcoBoost, that led to this decision. July 16 was the last day one could order a Power Stroke diesel option.

Cars Direct stated that this last Power Stroke V6 showed some real grit when one looks at the numbers it generated. 250 hp and 440 lbs-feet of torque is nothing to scoff at. But according to Patel, the availability of a hybrid overshadowed that power.

This is not the end of diesel engines at Ford. Diesel is still "available on the XL, XLT, Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum trims  with four-wheel drive." The extra cost varies from $3k to $5k. With a diesel engine the F-150 has a towing capacity up to 12,100 pounds or a payload capacity of 1,840, numbers that fall short of what Chevrolet and Ram offer. In fact, even the hybrid V6 has more oomph when it comes to torque (12,700) and the v8 as well (13,000), both of these being outdone by the turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 (14,000 pounds).  

The Cars Direct article concludes with a reiteration of Ford's commitment to be carbon neutral by 2050. The all-electric F-150 Lightning and their Mustang Mach-E are the first signals indicative of their seriousness in this effort. "Offering a diesel powertrain doesn’t exactly help the automaker with these goals. Ford didn’t help the diesel engine’s case, though. As Ford Authority points out, the diesel engine wasn’t available with the 36-gallon extended range fuel tank or the automaker’s Pro Power Onboard system."

The departure of the F-150 diesel is not the end of the world, but it is the end of an era.

Read the full story here: F-150 Diesel Engine Discontinued