Commercial vehicle upfitter XL Hybrids has announced that it will begin production of its XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive System for Ford F-250 pickups in the first quarter of 2018.
The XL3 system will be offered as a ship-through upfit on 2018 F-250 pickups, and is compatible with a range of wheelbases, cab and bed configurations in both 4×2 and 4×4 options. All components are installed under the vehicle, retaining the pickup bed’s full capacity.
According to the company, the upfit offers an up to 25 percent increase in fuel efficiency.
Installation of the XL3 system can be completed in just hours, and leaves the original engine, transmission, fuel system and exhaust system completely intact. Fleets maintain the complete OEM warranty, and get a three-year, 75,000 mile warranty from XL Hybrids on the XL3 powertrain.
“The F-250 is a great complement to our existing product line-up,” said Clay Siegert, XL Hybrids’ co-founder and COO. “Our hybrid upfit solution for the F-250 is XL Hybrids’ second product for Ford pickup trucks, after our XLP plug-in hybrid upfit for Ford F-150 half-ton pickup trucks.”
“Ford Super Duty vehicles are in demand by XL Hybrids’ fleet customers, so we have developed our hybrid-electric upfit solution to meet our customers’ need for power and payload, as well as better fuel economy,” said XL Hybrids CTO Ed Lovelace. “We recently surpassed a landmark 50 million total customer road miles, and our experience in successfully supporting leading fleets informs our product roadmap.”
“We’re excited to see XL Hybrids launch its upfits for our F-250 work trucks to help meet a growing customer need for improved efficiency while maintaining power, torque and work capability,” said Kevin Koswick, Ford’s Director for North American Fleet Lease and Remarketing Operations. “We look forward to supporting XL Hybrids, a qualified eQVM program participant.”
Source: XL Hybrids