Blue Oval claims it developed the new midsize truck entirely from scratch.
Ford did its research during the development phase and tested the Ranger for 10,000 km (6,213 mi) in desert driving. The Blue Oval claims that this is equivalent to 1,250,000 km (776.714 miles) customer driving. Dearborn-based Ford claims that it is equivalent to driving the Ranger offroad for 625,000 km (388,357 mi) at the maximum load capacity.
The prototypes were subject to extreme temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). Some test vehicles had to tow in alpine passes. The 2023 Ranger was virtually tested before it was used in the real world. This included thousands of hours spent in simulations on computers and real-world simulations at Ford’s laboratories.
Although computer simulations were helpful in speeding up the development phase of the truck, it was more useful to test the prototypes in real environments to determine how it would perform over many years of customer service. The prototypes, which were tested with robotics in the lab, were placed on a “squeak-and-rattle” rig to assess the suspension’s strength and to measure its resistance to “too rigorous for humans to bear”.
Ford is not revealing when the new Ranger will be revealed, although the teaser campaign is intensifying. We’ll have to wait to see the US-spec model as production isn’t due to begin until May 2023 before July, when sales are expected to start.