The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has limited our ability to see many upcoming vehicles up close — you may have noticed a dearth of auto shows this year — but we did finally get a chance to examine the redesigned 2021 Ford F-150 recently, and we found some features that might make it ideal for the current state of things.
Related: 2021 Ford F-150: America’s Favorite Vehicle Gets an Upgrade
The vehicle we saw up close was an F-150 Limited hybrid, featuring the most powerful 7.2-kilowatt Pro Power onboard generator (2.0-kW and 2.4-kW versions are also available, depending on equipment). After digging into the new interior, what did we dig?
1. Interior Work Surface Works
One highlight was Ford’s new Interior Work Surface, a fold-out flat surface that covers the center console and provides a useful space for working or eating, designed to make life easier for those who spend a lot of time inside their F-150. Crucially, the gear selector folds down flat when in Park to enable a usefully large flat surface. Even for those not constantly traveling from worksite to worksite, the Interior Work Surface may turn the F-150 into a useful private office away from the rest of the household.
2. 12 Inches of Quality Touchscreen
We also praised the F-150’s new 12-inch touchscreen. Unlike in certain other Ford vehicles, the screen in the F-150 has a landscape orientation, keeping key content higher and within easier reach while also providing a more substantial display area for important content (portrait-oriented screens often pinch the horizontal display for features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto). Also good: You still get a row of physical controls below the display, and the graphics are high-quality without unnecessary complexity.
3. Onboard Generator
We didn’t bring any power tools or appliances to evaluate the 7.2-kW onboard generator, but the idea of having generator power available in a pickup truck is brilliant, and it should provide an added degree of utility for work and play.
More from Cars.com:
- 2021 Ford F-150, Mustang Mach-E to Introduce Improved Real-Time Traffic Info With Sync 4
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto: Where Are They Now?
- Ford Sync 4 Multimedia System Can Find You a Parking Spot, Cheap Gas
- Ford’s New GPS Navigation System: Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads (or Cell Service)
- 2020 Ford F-150: 10 Things We Like (and 4 Not So Much)
Things we didn’t get to test include the optional fold-flat front seats for napping (the test vehicle was not equipped with them) and anything to do with driving, which will happen in a few weeks.
Materials quality on this F-150 isn’t quite on par with the nicest Ram 1500 interiors, with our reviewer putting the quality in the “good but not great” category and making sure to note that this was a pre-production vehicle (meaning there’s still time for improvement). Overall, we found the new F-150’s interior impressive in terms of the incremental surprise-and-delight features that might matter more for truck buyers than those browsing other vehicle classes.
And why might the 2021 F-150 be an ideal vehicle for the current pandemic? Simple: A vehicle where you can escape a busy household to get work done, grab a nap or eat a takeout meal if (or when) outdoor seating becomes impractical might be just what we all need right now.
Related Video:
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
Source: Read Full Article