Yes I believe you’re correct. I had it flipped. Nonetheless for an $85k vehicle, there is no reason it shouldn’t have PAK

The big issue with diesel pickups and lots of short trips where the diesel particle filter block up because they don’t get hot enough to burn particles off or do regen cycle. This is becoming costly maintenance for those owners and the gasoline hybrid may offer them a neat way to avoid this as well as take advantage of Australia’s cheaper petrol prices vs diesel. Something you might find interesting but be warned, these reviewers tend to be Toyota biased… something weird happened on the first leg with the two Chinese pickups using a lot of fuel while Ranger’s normal fuel usage was down played. I think there was a big issue     

I believe the phone as a key is only on stealth and ultimate pkgs per order guide.  Kr its not available.    

Perhaps they see it as a safety feature that should be available to all assuming the vehicle is capable of functioning that way.  I get your point though.

I thought that was going to be only on the Navigator. It seems there isn't any tech difference between the Expy and Navi aside from the screen size; sadly, it is the usual way of doing things by Ford

Counterintuitively, that might actually be true. Looking at the recalls, many of them are preemptive recalls over issues that Ford found, not issues that customers have reported, and they’re just issuing recalls in case some customer vehicles are affected. F’rinstance, there are 7 open recalls on the 2025 F-150, and for six of them, “Ford is not aware of any warranty claims, field or customer reports associated with [this issue].”  (Heck, one is over a missing airbag sticker, which obviously makes the vehicle unsafe to drive.) The seventh was discovered by a service tech in a pre-delivery inspection, so even it didn’t make it to an actual customer.    That’s not to say that they’re not bad—the Bronco has a “do not drive” warning on two of its recalls because of improperly installed bolts in the front suspension—but at least they’re catching and fixing most of the issues before they affect customers. 

The BYD Shark 6 PHEV (EREV) is a heavy pickup that is reported not as energy efficient in actual normal driving as its rating would suggest.  With Ranger having such short EV driving range, I wonder if owners will pay the higher price premium if real-world fuel economy improvements do not justify added cost?  Unless of course government doesn’t give buyers a choice.   BYD Shark is not very economical on gas, particularly at higher speeds, but at least its longer EV driving range could offset much of the higher fuel consumption.  Perhaps that longer EV range combined with lower cost could help sales relative to Ranger PHEV?  Not sure how either pickup is doing in sales.  Reports suggest Ranger is a nicer truck overall, I’m just wondering about PHEV price premium and perceived added value.

The CNBC article covering the interview barely mentions a new “potential” van or midsize pickup for 2027.  A new midsize truck seems more likely to me, given their history with Dakota, but a passenger ProMaster, while possible, seems less likely.  The Ducato van, on which ProMaster is based, has been around a long time and probably due for a redesign.  Present van is efficient as a cargo hauler, but looks too commercial for a good-looking passenger van, not that full-size vans are attractive or often judged that way IMO.  Hopefully Kuniskis is referring to an all-new midsize van or a ProMaster redesign.   By the way, great comment about things that “seem” for fun actually being for business (i.e. — money).   https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/27/stellantis-ram-trucks-tim-kuniskis.html      

We got a 2025 Platinum Max for my wife about 3 weeks ago. Thus far it has been a wonderful vehicle. It’s very comfortable and the tech in it is a big step up in cohesiveness for Ford. The side camera views next to the speedometer when the turn signal on is a surprisingly nice feature. The seats are nicely bolstered and comfortable. The new Ford Experience infotainment system is SO MUCH better than the vertical sync 4 system in my lightning. It’s actually enjoyable to use.    Only real gripe is with Ford build options. You cannot spec a Stealth model, nor King Ranch, with a second row bench. It’s weird because the interior seats aren’t different in the Platinum between the regular or Stealth models. Why gate keep it. You also can only get phone as a key in the King Ranch. Why… 

I read this review a couple days ago. I didn’t think it was unreasonable and I agree with some of their gripes.  I recognize that most headlights are automatic nowadays, but was it really necessary to move the headlight controls to the screen. I thought it was a ridiculous change.  I do like the color of that ride though.