Patent Shows The Electric Ford F-150 Is Going To Get A Pretty Big Frunk

EmersonHart13

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jul 18, 2007
54,213
22,337

crqm9gjk0g8xecgfbxpe.png


 

EmersonHart13

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jul 18, 2007
54,213
22,337
An all-electric Ford F-150 pickup is coming, and a new patent filing shows us exactly what’s in store under the hood. Since it won’t be an engine, it looks like Ford instead will offer a front trunk, or a frunk, and a pretty clever storage system.

https://jalopnik.com/watch-an-electric-ford-f-150-prototype-tow-a-1-million-1836632603
As reported by Car And Driver, the patent shows a vaguely Ford-looking design, with the C-shaped headlights, and describes a front storage area featuring two bins that can be accessed either by opening the truck’s hood, or by opening a front door disguised as the grille without having to open the hood.

The patent describes lighting, security, and functionality for the frunk, featuring proximity sensors that communicate with the vehicle’s key fob that detect when someone accesses the storage area with or without a key, potentially sounding the car alarm.

Inside the frunk are two connected bins, one in front of the other that are connected at a pivot point which allows the first bin to be pulled out of the front access door and out of the way of the second bin.
You can read the full patent description here.

We’re no stranger to frunk designs, with our own Jason Torchinsky drawing up plans for a double-bed pickup almost exactly like Ford’s patent design back in 2013.



Ford won’t be the first to do it when its truck is expected to debut in 2021, as the Bollinger B2 already features a front storage area and does the Ford one better—it has an access door that lets you run long objects all the way through the body of the truck and out through the rear bed.

But who cares! The industry currently hasn’t tried too hard to maximize the potential of the frunk, with new EVs like the Mercedes-Benz EQC not even bothering to try, instead filling the space with HVAC systems and preventing owners from accessing the space.

Trucks were always going to be different to electric Mercedes crossovers, though. We’ve gone through generations of towing wars, payload wars, bed strength wars, and now I fear we may not be ready for the marketing machine’s plans for the frunk wars.

If you think Honda putting a human-sized storage area under the bed of the Ridgeline was strange, you’re not prepared for how weird it’s going to get when these things lose their bulky internal combustion engines.
wqlxrytg2v6tg7efcxzm.png

nmpfspidsdztmnd5bzzl.png
 

Kensington

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Aug 14, 2017
11,317
5,369
Sooo hub motors then?

I mean, we've been used to smaller cars, and the motors/space associated with them. The F-150 has a lot of room, and even with a full size electric motor up front, would still have a ton of room for a large frunk. This is especially likely, as I am assuming that the platform will be HIGHLY similar to the Rivian skateboard platform

2706_Rivian_Violet-Reed.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: RICH17

MikeyLikesIt

PHEV Enthusiast
Jun 11, 2009
2,866
727
Downers Grove
The frunk marketing idea seems like a gimick, I hope they focus range and power.

The battery design is also a concern. The latest patent suggestions they are going to try and keep the frame and not come up with a skateboard design.
So they will need to squeeze batteries inside of it. I would have clean sheeted the electric F150 instead of trying to reuse parts.

 

Stink Star

Don’t Drive Angry!
TCG Premium
Jan 20, 2008
16,274
11,929
Big wood cock
The frunk marketing idea seems like a gimick, I hope they focus range and power.

The battery design is also a concern. The latest patent suggestions they are going to try and keep the frame and not come up with a skateboard design.
So they will need to squeeze batteries inside of it. I would have clean sheeted the electric F150 instead of trying to reuse parts.


this has always been the problem with legacy makers making EVs. They make the vehicles like an ICE car and try and fit the components into the areas that used To be fuel tanks and engines. A clean sheet design is a much better approach when it comes to EVs
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 90 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant. Consider starting a new thread to get fresh replies.

Thread Info