We are spending time in a mid-spec, 2021 Ford F-150 XLT with the hybrid engine. It’s a four-wheel drive version of the truck. Since the hybrid is basically added to the 3.5-liter EcoBoost that is already on top-spec F-150s, we figured it’d be a good opportunity to run it through our performance testing.
For those unfamiliar, the PowerBoost makes 430 horsepower and 570 lb-ft of torque. It’s mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.
In addition to the before mentioned four-wheel drive, the truck also has a 3.73 electronic locking rear axle. Since trucks can often have varying degree of final drive gears, performance numbers can vary. As always, your results may match ours, but we make every effort to produce repeatable data.
To launch, we set the auto hold on and mashed to go pedal. Power braking can create differing results, this is more repeatable. If the truck had launch control, we would’ve used that. It was in sport mode.
Our tester made the run from 0 to 60 mph in 6.23 seconds. For our Canadian friends, it took 6.55 seconds to hit 100 kph. We perform a 50 to 70 mph test, which we considering overtaking performance, and the truck took 2.88 seconds to complete it.
Braking from 70 mph back to 0 took 148 feet, and triggered a few warning lights that indicated the brakes needed some cooling time. Typically our best braking is done on the first test, but this truck stopped shorter on the second run.
In a quarter-mile run, the truck completed the eighth-mile in 8.28 seconds, the quarter-mile in 14.21 seconds and it had a trap speed of 100.53 mph.
For a massive pickup truck, these are some solid performance numbers. For a vehicle that carries an EPA rating of 24 mpg combined, that’s fairly impressive.
We’ll attempt to get some real world fuel economy numbers for you as the week goes on, but if there’s anything you want to know about the 2021 F-150 with the PowerBoost hybrid, let us know in the comments below.
Updated (3:22pm EST, 1/25/2021): Added PowerBoost horsepower and torque and information about launching.
