A current patent submitting signifies that Ford may observe Basic Motors and Ram with a midgate for pickup vans, however the automaker has one other trick up its sleeve as effectively.

Revealed by america Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) Jan. 31, 2023, the patent software is titled “Pivotable Sill for a Automobile.” It describes a movable part of a pickup cab wall that might open to permit direct entry from the mattress to the cab. In contrast to different midgate designs, nevertheless, Ford’s proposed model would pivot up, like a rear hatch, quite than folding down.

This could, amongst different issues, enable for a useful tenting setup. One of many drawings included with the appliance exhibits a crew cab pickup with a bed-mounted tent and flat-folding first and second row seats forming a sleeping area.

 

The instance used within the software is a unibody automobile like the present Ford Maverick, quite than a body-on-frame automobile just like the Blue Oval’s bestselling F-Collection vans. Within the doc, Ford notes that in body-on-frame pickups the rear wall of the cab and the entrance of the mattress are separate items, so this midgate association can be harder to make use of.

Rivals are taking an identical strategy with deliberate manufacturing vans. GM originated the midgate with the body-on-frame Chevrolet Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT, however it’s bringing the thought again with the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV, two electrical pickups with unibody building based mostly on GM’s Ultium element set.

 

Ram additionally mixed an electrical powertrain and a midgate in its 1500 Revolution BEV idea, which previews the model’s first manufacturing EV, due in 2024. The idea additionally incorporates third-row bounce seats and a entrance pass-through that creates a space for storing stretching all the best way from the mattress, by way of the cab, and into the frunk.

The patent software hints that Ford is planning to match these options. Whereas the present Ford F-150 Lightning is derived from the body-on-frame gasoline F-150, Ford has indicated a follow-up electrical full-size electrical truck, due later this decade, can be based mostly on a devoted platform. The appliance may apply to that truck. Nevertheless, a patent software isn’t any assure of manufacturing plans.