2026 Ford F-150 King Ranch: The Texas Truck Done Right

Solid premium truck with smooth hybrid power, though observed mpg trails the EPA rating.

Is the 2026 Ford F-150 King Ranch the Texas truck it sounds like? After 254.1 miles in this SuperCrew 4×4, I think it is, for the buyer who wants ranch heritage and real luxury in the same truck. I don’t have a complaint about the way it looks, the way the cabin feels, or the way it drives. The PowerBoost handoff is smooth. The fuel number is the honest caveat, and it matters.

The lineup, and this truck

The 2026 F-150 lineup is a long one. XL, STX, XLT, Lariat, King Ranch, Platinum, and Platinum Plus. Tremor and Raptor are in there too.

This test truck is the King Ranch, Equipment Group 600A. SuperCrew, 4×4, 145-inch wheelbase, 5.5-foot box. King Ranch includes the Lariat features, then adds the pieces that define the trim. You get 20-inch chrome-like PVD wheels with the King Ranch ornament, two-tone paint with the Marsh Gray lower accent, leather bucket seats with the King Ranch badge, and BlueCruise. Bang & Olufsen audio is in there, along with the Bed Utility Package and the Mobile Office Package. The Tow/Haul Package is standard on this trim. I’m not going to turn that into a towing story. This week was about living with the truck, not a scale ticket.

That is the truck I drove. A premium half-ton dressed like a ranch truck.

Exterior

The color on this one is Star White Metallic Tricoat with the Marsh Gray lower accent. That two-tone comes with the King Ranch. White on top, gray along the bottom. It breaks up a full-size body, and it fits the name. You can tell what trim you’re looking at before you get close enough to read a badge.

The wheels are part of that same look. 20-inch chrome-like PVD wheels, King Ranch center ornament, 275/60R20 all-season tires. This SuperCrew sits on a 145-inch wheelbase, so it’s a long truck, and those 20s fill the arches. Wheel well liners are on this one too.

Walk the side and the badges are easy to spot. King Ranch on the front fender. PowerBoost Hybrid on the door. King Ranch again on the tailgate. A twin-panel moonroof is up top. A hard tonneau covers the bed. This trim is supposed to look like the name, and this one does.

Interior and tech

Inside, this King Ranch is Java leather. Brown leather front buckets, King Ranch badge on the seat, genuine wood accents. From the driver’s seat it looks like the ranch truck, not a work cab with leather added later. I spent the week in here, and it’s a nice place to sit. That’s the point of this trim. The luxury belongs with the badge. It doesn’t feel tacked on at the end of the build sheet.

Front seats are heated and ventilated. The second row is heated. You get a 12-inch SYNC 4 touchscreen and a 12-inch digital cluster behind the wheel. Bang & Olufsen sound, eight speakers including a subwoofer. The twin-panel moonroof is right overhead. There’s a power sliding rear window in the back glass. Tray-style floor liners are fitted on this truck. A truck cabin collects dirt, and the liners are a $200 option worth having on a truck you’ll actually use.

The 360-degree camera pulls up on that center screen. BLIS with cross-traffic alert is on the truck, along with adaptive cruise and lane-keeping. Driver-assist controls sit on the steering wheel. BlueCruise is equipped, with a one-year plus 90-day plan, and on this King Ranch it is standard equipment. No charge. Remote start is included. This build also has the SecuriCode keyless keypad, a $455 option.

It’s a premium cabin, and the truck drives like one. It should, once you see the sticker.

Driving

The engine is the 3.5-liter PowerBoost full hybrid V6, paired with a hybrid electric 10-speed automatic. This one is 4×4, with a 3.73 electronic-locking rear axle. It is a full hybrid, not a plug-in. You don’t plug it in. Pop the hood and it’s the hybrid V6.

Ford’s own pages don’t agree on combined output for this powertrain, and the window sticker on this truck doesn’t print a horsepower or torque figure. Until those sources agree, I’m leaving the number out. What I can tell you is how it behaved this week.

There is no EV-mode light that I could find. The tachometer is the tell. No RPMs, and you’re on electric. I ran 15 to 20 mph on the motor. Flat neighborhood streets, it would stay there. My neighborhood is hilly, so any climb kicks the gas engine on and the RPMs jump. The slightest extra throttle does the same thing. Early in the week that was the whole story. Suburban and rural, no highway yet, and the gas-to-electric handoff was pretty smooth. The drive feel is nice. It’s quiet at those low speeds, and the V6 comes in without a harsh bump.

Then I took it on the highway with BlueCruise. Lane keeping and radar cruise. It worked really well. You can go hands-free for quite a while, and the truck manages turns really well. On a Texas highway, in a SuperCrew this size, that’s the assist I used, and it did the job. It’s still an assist. You watch the road. On this truck, for this week, BlueCruise made the highway easy.

Here’s the fuel number, because it has to be in the review.

I drove 254.1 miles. The handoff cluster read 12,072.4. End of the week was 12,326.5. Trip 1 was 253.8 miles over 12 hours and 30 minutes, and the cluster logged 75.9 of those miles on electric. That’s about 30 percent of the trip. That is a trip log, not a rated electric range. The cluster average was 19.2 mpg.

EPA for this PowerBoost is 22 city, 24 highway, 23 combined, or 4.3 gallons per 100 miles. The window sticker estimates annual fuel cost at $2,150 on that rating. The 19.2 is the cluster Trip 1 number, not a fill-up calculation, and it is below the rating. In our hilly suburban driving, observed mileage trails the EPA number. If your week looks like mine, plan on spending more than that sticker estimate. The way it drives is still good. The handoff stays smooth. Don’t buy the hybrid badge for mpg, and don’t let the mpg number talk you out of a truck that otherwise does the job if you have a use for what this powertrain actually adds.

NHTSA rates the F-150 5 stars overall. That’s the lab score. The week on the road is the one I trust more, and that week was comfortable, quiet at low speed, and easy on the highway.

The bed

This SuperCrew runs the 5.5-foot bed. That’s the short box, and it’s the box on the truck I drove. The hard tonneau stays on until you need the space, and it keeps the cargo covered. That’s how I left it most of the week. Open the cover and the floor is a ToughBed spray-in liner. It’s textured, and it’s there to take the scrapes so the bed paint doesn’t.

The tailgate is the Pro Access tailgate. Drop it like a normal tailgate, or swing it open to the side when you want to walk straight up to the bed. The retractable center step is in that gate. It drops when you need a boost, and it stows when you don’t. On a truck this tall, that step is how you get into the box without a scramble.

Tie-downs are in the box. King Ranch includes the Bed Utility Package, so you can strap gear down instead of letting it slide. Cooler, bags, ranch stuff. It fits this truck. For a half-ton short box, this bed is practical. Lined, covered, and easy to climb into. If you need a longer box, this short bed isn’t it. If you need a SuperCrew and a covered box that still works, this layout makes sense.

This one is on the 7,400 lb GVWR package. I don’t have a confirmed door-jamb payload for this build, so I’m not going to print a guess. Payload moves with options. The number that counts is on the truck you’re buying.

What I will stand behind is Pro Power Onboard at 7.2 kW. Working out of the bed, that’s real power without hauling a separate generator. That’s the hybrid feature that earns its keep on this truck. Not the mpg. The outlet.

Price

This King Ranch SuperCrew 4×4 starts at $69,625. That’s base MSRP, before options and before destination.

The truck I drove doesn’t stay there. Options add $8,895. Here’s where that money went.

Star White Metallic Tricoat is $995. The 3.5-liter PowerBoost is $1,340 on this sticker. The twin-panel moonroof is $1,495. The hard tonneau, an accessory on the Monroney, is $1,280. Pro Power Onboard at 7.2 kW is $850. The ToughBed spray-in bedliner is $625. The retractable rear center step is $430. SecuriCode keypad is $455. The connectivity package, a one-time seven-year plan, is $745. SiriusXM with 360L, three-year plan, is $300. Tray-style floor liners are $200. Wheel well liners are $180.

BlueCruise and the Pro Access tailgate come with this King Ranch. No charge.

Vehicle and options come to $78,520. Destination is $2,595. As-tested, you’re at $81,115. Final assembly is Dearborn.

So that’s the reality check. Premium half-ton, ranch look, Java leather, and the hybrid I had all week. If that’s the truck you want, $81,115 is the number. A big slice of the options is the stuff that makes this specific truck what it is: the paint, the PowerBoost, the moonroof, the tonneau, and the 7.2 kW outlet. Strip those and you’re closer to the base King Ranch. Keep them, and you’re over $80,000 before tax and title.

Who it’s for

It’s for the buyer in Texas who wants a half-ton with the ranch look and a premium cabin, and who will use what the PowerBoost adds. After a week in this King Ranch, it’s still a solid truck. The electric-to-gas handoff is smooth, and it drives like a premium truck. The two-tone, the Java leather, and the wood fit the name, and they fit the buyer living that life.

Be honest about the mpg, though. In our hilly suburban driving, 19.2 mpg on the cluster fell short of the 23 combined rating. Don’t buy the PowerBoost for mpg alone. Buy it for the 7.2 kW Pro Power Onboard, and for that quiet low-speed electric driving. If you’ll use that power, this is the F-150 to get.

If you won’t, a gas King Ranch or a Lariat makes the value case easier at this price. $81,115 is real money if that onboard power never gets used.

If I were shopping for a premium half-ton and I had a job for that power, I’d get this one. If I just wanted the King Ranch look, I’d skip the hybrid.