Exploring Ontario: 2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid to Killarney Provincial Park

Killarney Provincial Park, a wilderness preserve about an hour south of Sudbury, became the pristine sanctuary it is today thanks to the lobbying efforts of more than one Group of Seven painter. The area’s towering red and white pines, crystal-clear lakes cradled in quartzite hills that mimic so many soft summer clouds, conspire to reveal just how stunningly beautiful Ontario can be. Along the park’s shoreline at Georgian Bay, the backdrops are even more spectacular, the water so inviting and the smooth rock shoreline so fascinating it’s no wonder the Group of Seven painters became popular: all they had to do was paint a little of what they saw.

But getting to Killarney, home to several good hikes and plenty of canoe-in, back-country camping spots, isn’t exactly a walk in the park; and getting there from Ottawa with two, 15-foot kayaks would require a pickup, which is why we opted for a 2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid. The Hybrid made sense because finding fuel up north is a little more of a challenge, and if we happened to need any onboard electricity, the truck could provide up to 7.2kw of electricity so far out in the bush.

Our Lariat FX4 Supercrew had all the room inside two people could ever want. The cavernous rear-seat area easily devoured all the gear we thought we needed for a week away at an off-grid island cabin in the park. And it cradled our two boats in the 5.5’ bed, straddling a hitch extender for support. In all, with the tailgate down, the boats stuck out about 7 feet, ratchet-strapped with three tie downs locking them tight. The bed’s tie downs and lighting were especially helpful.

Ottawa to Killarney is about 600 kilometres. Most trucks would be near empty on arrival after such a trip. But before departing, the “powerboost” hybrid truck displayed a range of more than 1,000 kms to empty. Can’t be, I figured, considering the tank holds just 98 litres. But that was before noting the average economy of the hybrid is the best in the F-150 fleet — 9.8 L/100 km city and 9.7 highway.

After travelling about 550 kilometres on the way to the park, we still had half a tank remaining, thanks in part to occasional use of electricity up to about 80 km/hr, plus the 10 speed transmission that keeps the engine rpm impressively-low at highway speeds. As it was, after filling up about 165 kilometres away from Killarney, we made it to the park, later drove into the quaint town of Killarney (with its outstanding fish and chips shop) and back to Ottawa and still had 227 or so kilometres to empty, scoring an average of 10.8 L/100 km over 1,265 kilometres and using 91.3 kms of electric range. Very impressive numbers for a pickup weighing over 5,500 lbs — strangely, the heaviest in the fleet (other than Raptor), mostly due to the battery. Imagine the economy numbers if Ford turned the hybrid into its lightest truck?

Shifts between fully electric and hybrid or full gas are completely unnoticeable most times, although the truck does make an annoying noise when going slow in electric to alert pedestrians. It makes another weird chime when backing up in full electric, a noise I couldn’t defeat or shut off. Not great if you’re trying to sneak away early in the morning without alerting neighbouring campers. Other campers will, however, appreciate the F-150’s “Pro Power Onboard” when they need a latte or to charge their phones and laptops. Standard on the hybrid, an inverter/generator creates enough power to run all kinds of appliances or tools, ranging from 2.4-kw up to 7.2-kw, so running an espresso machine, bread maker, and beer fridge should be no problem, all plugged into one of four 120-volt outlets and a 240-volt socket in the back.

Available only on SuperCrew models from the Lariat trim up, the hybrid did shift noticeably abruptly between first and third sometimes, something that can probably be worked out with software. Other shifts were good and, most times, it became easy to forget the 35-kW electric motor, drawing power from a 1.5-kWh lithium-ion battery for a net gain of 47 horsepower, is mated to the familiar twin turbo 3.5L V6. As a hybrid, there is no cord to plug in, of course, the battery recharging via the engine or through regenerative braking.

Total power of 430 hp and 570 pound-feet of torque is very pleasing, especially when passing. The truck is truly fast on its feet and it’s got more than enough chops for towing with a 12,700-pound tow rating, with a maximum payload of 2,120 pounds.

The cabin in Lariat trim is truly impressive, with an excellent mix of materials, finishes, and colours. Wireless Apple CarPlay over a 12-inch touchscreen was brilliantly simple, fast, and intuitive, and the 18-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system may be the best $800 ever spent.

Front seats are massively comfortable, heated and cooled. The actual shift knob seemed awkward to me, too, not resting naturally in the hand, and though it can be tucked away when parked to produce a small table, the folding of the knob seems overly engineered just to make a bit of work space. While the instrumentation is clear and colourful, it seems odd the tach displays a large number with a decimal instead of thousands (1.2 instead of 1,200, for example). It would also be nice to see how much actual range remained in the 1.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery that sits under the truck.

The ride, too, even with the FX4 package, might have been a bigger highlight than the hybrid components, so capable was the fully boxed frame and sh at absorbing broken roads and off-road holes. With such high levels of noise control and such excellent suspension — from leaf springs no less — the ride could be mistaken for a luxury sedan.

Fully equipped, our F-150 Hybrid rang in at $84,165 with fees but before tax. The base price of $61,845 jumped considerably with $20,370 in options — $4,850 of which was for the hybrid engine alone, plus another $4,245 for the Lariat package. That might seem like a lot of green for a truck that aims to be green, but considering the cost of buying a cottage these days, loading one of these up to go camping with a couple of kayaks on weekends is far simpler and a vastly cheaper way to enjoy some of the most stunning outdoors Ontario has to offer.