Ford announced upgrades to its compact Puma Gen-E that will extend the electric crossover’s driving range and add hands-free highway technology for the 2026 model year.
The updates boost the Puma Gen-E’s range from 233 miles to approximately 250 miles. Ford claims city-only driving could reach up to 341 miles on a single charge.
Ford achieved this range increase through what it calls “optimised battery design” – not by adding more battery capacity.
The 43kWh battery pack stays the same size, which puts it behind most competitors in the compact EV segment. The 166bhp front motor and 100kW peak charging speed remain unchanged as well.
Charging from 10-80% still takes about 23 minutes under optimal conditions.
BlueCruise Driver Assistance Debuts
The bigger news might be Ford’s BlueCruise system coming to the Puma Gen-E for the first time. This semi-autonomous driving feature allows hands-free highway driving – something that sets it apart from most competitor systems.
BlueCruise earned legal approval as the UK’s first “hands-off, eyes-on” driver assistance system.
Unlike systems from Volvo or Tesla that require hands on the steering wheel, BlueCruise lets drivers remove their hands completely. They just need to keep watching the road ahead.
The technology combines cameras and radar sensors to read road markings, signs, and surrounding traffic. It automatically controls speed and keeps the vehicle centered in its lane.
There’s a catch – it only works on Ford’s pre-mapped “Blue Zone” roads. That covers about 95% of UK motorways currently.
Ford first introduced BlueCruise on the Mustang Mach-E in 2023. The company’s now expanding it to both electric and petrol Puma models, plus the Ranger PHEV pickup and Kuga SUV.
The system has approval across 16 European countries, covering more than 84,000 miles of roadway. It’s also available in the United States.
Ford says drivers have logged over 522 million miles using BlueCruise since its launch.
The enhanced Puma Gen-E with extended range and BlueCruise technology arrives in spring 2026. Ford hasn’t announced pricing for the updated model yet.
