Ford's Upcoming Electric Pickup Truck Will Be Perfect For Glamping

Ford's Upcoming Electric Pickup Truck Will Be Perfect For Glamping

Ford has gone next level with the midgate.

Ford has filed a patent for a pickup cabin’s rear panel that can pivot upwards like the trunk of an SUV. CarBuzz discovered the patent, which was filed at the German Patent and Trademark Office.

This portion of the truck is more commonly known as the midgate, and Ford suggests that it can be mounted in such a way that it can be stowed in a latched position but also be moved upward to expose the cabin to the outside world. This midgate consists of two panels connected in the middle. This allows the two panels to pivot, providing security in the stowed position and numerous advantages in the open position.

Ford says the lower panel can pivot more than 90 degrees relative to the first panel, allowing it to throw shade wherever the owner wants. If you can open the midgate, you can also extend the length of the bed, but Ford filed this application for other reasons.

Most of the test is dedicated to a tent assembly, which can be put up around the truck. Specially designed tent pockets slide over the side mirrors to keep it in place. The rest of the tent is secured via tie-down pockets, but Ford also says it can be connected by using old-school tent poles and stakes.

As you can see in the image below, the tent is meant to be used for camping or glamping purposes. The open midgate leads to a traditional tent flap campers can use to get in and out of the car since the doors will most likely be unable to open because of the tie-downs.

The exciting thing is how Ford intends to use traditional interior features to make camping as comfortable as possible. The seats can fold flat to provide a sleeping surface, while the seat heaters and coolers can make a snooze way more comfortable when camping in adverse conditions. The bladders used for a standard seat massaging function can also be inflated and deflated until the camper finds the perfect position.

We suspect you can also use the climate control system to regulate the interior temperature, and you don’t have to worry about running the battery down. A Ford F-150 Lightning battery is large enough to run a house for a few days, so an overnight camp in a tent is unlikely to make a dent in the battery. Ford also thought about security and stated that various sensors could be used to monitor the surroundings, and it would alert the occupants if a dodgy person were standing nearby.

The American automaker is also quick to point out that variations and modifications of this system may be broadened in the future and that this one patent will still cover all of this.

What gives? Is Ford working on an F-150 Lightning Camping Edition to go up against Tesla’s new Cybertruck tent?

We think there’s something much more significant in the pipeline. Ford has already confirmed that it’s working on another electric pickup truck. The project is dubbed T3 and appears to be a high-end truck from what we’ve learned about it so far.

CarBuzz also recently discovered three frunk patents, including a slide-out drawer requiring the entire front end to be redesigned. It seemed as if Ford was going after Rivian’s Camp Kitchen, but now we think Ford has started filing patents for this upcoming electric truck project.

If all of these patents – including the most recent one with a mobile cinema – are combined in one place, there’s not going to be much that can compete in terms of practicality and technology.