Ford South Africa has shipped its first batch of locally produced plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) Rangers this week.

During a showcase of the newly upgraded Silverton plant, in Pretoria, on March 26, Ford South Africa operations VP Ockert Berry confirmed that the plant was the only production source globally for the Ford Ranger PHEV, producing 200 Ranger PHEVs a day.

The PHEV models are destined for the New Zealand, Australian and European markets.

The R5.2-billion worth of upgrades to the plant to accommodate for the manufacturing of PHEVs included a brand new battery assembly plant and modernisations to the existing body shop and assembly lines.

Ford South Africa operations director Rhys Davies highlighted that the PHEV battery assembly plant is housed in a 1 376 m² facility, comprising 13 stations and 19 work pitches, as well as a dedicated 2 116 m² logistics warehouse. The company has installed capacity to produce 62 000 battery packs a year.

While Ford South Africa imports the battery arrays, the balance of components comprising the battery pack are produced locally.

The PHEV battery plant links with the assembly plant through a hybrid conveyor system, which marks the first use of a hybrid conveyor system in all Ford’s battery assembly plant’s globally. The hybrid conveyor system offers enhanced ergonomics and safety for operators on site, compared with a traditional conveyor. It also ensures higher production quality.

The battery plant uses high-tech battery pack vacuum leak testing technology with differential noise cancellation, which eliminates the influence of atmospheric fluctuations and background noise.

The plant is split into low-voltage testing and high-voltage testing sections to ensure safety for employees and to meet stringent global standards for battery pack assembly.

Other modernisations include upgrades to the Silverton chassis plant for the additional PHEV chassis requirements, new load box outer dies for the PHEV charging port and body structure modifications for hybrid functionality within the stamping plant.

The body shop upgrades included a new load box floor production line designed to accommodate the battery packs for positioning on the vehicle.

Finally, a new battery sub-assembly line, battery decking area, thermal imaging equipment and high-resolution vision systems for all high-voltage connections ensure efficiency and high-quality production within the plant.

The batteries undergo extensive hold and charge testing and diagnostic checks, in addition to Ford South Africa’s standard high-pressure water test and squeak and rattle testing on all vehicles.

Davies explained that all employees at the Silverton plant had to undergo extensive electrical and safety training, including emergency response teams since battery-related fires require special extinguishing approaches.

Davies and Berry confirmed that more upgrades at the plant are under way to improve the paint application process and to improve quality, including the installation of a new pre-treatment electro-dripping system. This upgrade will be complete in the next 12 to 18 months.

Meanwhile, the internal combustion engine Ford Ranger last year reached its highest domestic sales number since 2018, having sold 25 552 units. The vehicle holds 24.3% of the pickup segment market in the country, and is the second-largest seller in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment.

In terms of double cab sales, Ford Ranger leads in this segment, having sold 20 078 units last year – 4 756 more units than its closest competitor. Ford Ranger holds 33.4% of the double cab segment market share.

The traditional Ranger also remains one of South Africa’s top exports, with Ford South Africa having exported 66 284 units last year, which marked a 15.7% year-on-year growth rate and cemented the company’s position as the best exporter in the LCV segment in South Africa.

FMCSA exports vehicles to more than 100 markets globally, with Europe being the biggest export region.

The Silverton plant capacity of 720 vehicles a day, or 200 000 vehicles a year, includes the 200 PHEVs that are now produced at the plant.

The plant sources more than 1 800 types of parts from 58 suppliers in South Africa, with 12 of these being located in the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone.