DETROIT – As Ford Motor ramps up production of its electric F-150 pickup, it’s not giving up on offering a new, highly profitable performance model with a gasoline engine.
The Detroit automaker on Monday morning unveiled the F-150 Raptor R, a new version of its high-performance, off-road pickup with a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 engine that produces 700 horsepower and 640 foot-pounds of torque. The truck will start at $109,145, including destination and delivery charges.
Amid tepid demand and record high prices, automakers are adding performance variants to their lineups to boost profit margins before transitioning further to electric vehicles, which can offer higher performance but have lower margins than gas-powered vehicles.
The new “R” version looks similar to the company’s F-150 Raptor, but includes some design tweaks and offers significant increases in performance and off-road parts. For comparison, the regular 2022 F-150 Raptor is powered by a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engine that produces 450 horsepower and 510 foot-pounds of torque. Ford says the Raptor R has a top speed of 112 mph, which is limited by the vehicle’s 37-inch tires.
Ford has largely dominated the high-performance pickup truck market since launching the first Raptor model in 2009. But in recent years, Stellantis’ Ram truck brand has come to prominence with its Ram 1500 TRX, a 702-horsepower pickup with a supercharged 6.2-liter. V-8 engine and 650 foot-pounds of torque.
The new Raptor is just shy of the Ram TRX’s performance, but it offers a variety of performance parts. It is also the highest-powered engine Ford offers. The company previously used the engine for the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.
Ford Performance chief engineer Carl Widmann said it’s a result of customers “demanding the sound and power of a V8 in the Raptor.” Ford hasn’t offered a V-8 engine in the Raptor model since 2014.
Production of the F-150 Raptor R will begin in the fall at Ford’s Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan, the company said. Ordering of the vehicle starts from Monday through franchised Ford dealers.
Current Raptor trucks start around $70,000 — about $40,000 more than the base F-150 but less expensive than the top luxury version of the F-150 which starts at roughly $77,000.