The 2021 Ford F-150 full-size pickup upgrades the venerable light-duty truck effectively into the connected-car period. In some circumstances, past.
Far faraway from granddad’s farm truck, the brand new F-150 brims with tech-heavy options comparable to over-the-air updates, an 8.0-inch or bigger touchscreen on each truck, extra computing energy, and an built-in smartphone app that’ll show practically all of the truck’s cameras on a tool planted firmly in your hand.
The 2021 F-150 additionally units the desk for the truckmaker’s electrified future. The brand new truck is accessible with a full hybrid powertrain—the primary provided by Ford in a pickup—forward of a totally electrical model due quickly.
Evaluate continues under
True to its farm roots, the 2021 F-150 boasts work-friendly upgrades comparable to an in-vehicle generator with a number of energy plugs within the mattress, a workbench tailgate, fold-flat middle console, and airplane-style fold-flat entrance seats in case the job lasts longer (however you’ll be able to’t).
The 2021 Ford F-150 goes on sale in fall 2020. Ford’s not speaking costs, however will provide it in XL, XLT, Lariat, Platinum, King Ranch, and Restricted trims with myriad choices out there for all, together with powertrains, mattress lengths, cab configurations, and comfort options.
Type and efficiency
The 2021 F-150’s makeover is from the within out, principally. The inside sports activities new touchscreens within the middle of the truck and laborious knobs and buttons for car features and local weather controls. The inside of the vans nonetheless covers the appreciable floor between work-spec XL with its vinyl seats and hard-wearing plastics to cowboy-Cadillac Restricted with its leather-based upholstery and a pole place on the valet lot.
All vans share a purposeful format with massive controls and gauges, particularly vans outfitted with a 12-inch digital instrument cluster. Broader themes from prior F-150s carry over into the brand new truck such as you knew they might. Blocky controls. Huge area. A number of storage cubbies.
Outdoors, the 2021 F-150 is a dead-ringer for the truck it replaces. The seems to be subtly change from trim degree to trim degree, together with as much as 11 completely different grilles, however the fundamentals are all there: hood, cab, field within the again with acres of vertical area.
The brand new F-150 is adorned with all of the hallmarks from the final truck, which embody a kinked window line, C-shaped headlights and taillights, massive wheel arches, and squared-off shoulders. The brand new look is extra hewn in comparison with the previous truck but in addition clearly associated. Evolution not revolution, and all that.
Beneath the hoods of F-150s are engines which can be practically as various because the homeowners who drive them. Six engine configurations can be found within the F-150, all mated to 10-speed automatics, with rear- or four-wheel drive. Particular rear axle ratios can be found in the event you’re into that, too. No two vans want to depart the manufacturing facility alike.
The bottom engine is one which consumers received’t encounter usually. A 3.3-liter V-6 is fitted into XL vans and never a lot else. Ford hasn’t but stated how highly effective that engine will probably be in 2021, though the 2020 model made 290 horsepower. Its trick is low working prices and a low barrier for fleet patrons to get a Ford truck.
The subsequent step up is our most popular decide for a lot of retail patrons who want a truck however don’t want overwhelming energy or towing figures, also called “most of us.” A 2.7-liter turbo V-6 returns and is corresponding to different automakers’ small-displacement V-8s. Ford’s mum on energy specs for now, however the 2.7-liter V-6 was rated final 12 months at 325 hp and will tow as much as 8,500 kilos or carry as much as 2,500 kilos within the mattress. Fuel mileage? As much as 20 mpg mixed with four-wheel drive. Not too shabby.
A naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V-Eight is barely up to date with cylinder deactivation to avoid wasting gasoline this 12 months. Though it’s a big-displacement workhorse that was rated final 12 months at 395 hp and rated to tow as much as 11,200 kilos, time and tech have caught as much as it. The V-Eight has been surpassed in practically each respect by the turbo engines, however “V-8” plus “pickup” continues to be a formulation that some truckbuyers rely on. We get it.
A 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6 will probably be out there for lengthy haulers. Final 12 months, it returned as much as 30 mpg on the freeway nevertheless it didn’t tow any extra (as much as 11,400 kilos in 2020), wasn’t tops for torque (440 lb-ft final 12 months), wasn’t as refined as the remainder of the F-150 choices, and it has been an costly proposition. Totally different strokes, we suppose.
A 3.5-liter turbo V-6 would be the strongest of the bunch—at the least earlier than we begin speaking batteries. Final 12 months, it was provided in two completely different outputs with as much as 450 hp and 510 lb-ft in some vans and will tow as much as 13,200 kilos in others. Ford hasn’t but stated how highly effective the three.5-liter V-6 will probably be and if there’ll nonetheless be two variations, nevertheless it will not be the highest canine.
A brand new 3.5-liter turbo V-6 paired to lithium-ion batteries and an electrical motor might take the crown. Ford says it plans for the hybrid F-150 to tow as much as 12,000 kilos or extra, provide probably the most energy, and provide a 700-mile EPA-rated vary from a 30.6-gallon gasoline tank. That maths out to about 23 mpg mixed, which is hardly world-beating stuff—even a number of variations of the 2020 F-150 had been rated increased—nevertheless it’s progress. We’ll have to attend for official figures from the EPA, however Ford’s keyed us into scant particulars—together with many numbers. The three.5-liter turbo V-6 pairs with a 10-speed automated transmission that’s supplemented by a 47-horsepower electrical motor fed by a 1.5-kwh lithium-ion battery tucked beneath the ground. Hybrid pickups can be found in SuperCrew configuration solely however provided in all trim ranges.
An all-electric model of the F-150 is within the mail, though Ford is quiet on when it can get right here.
Like its predecessor, the F-150 rides on a totally boxed body with coil-over shocks and a double-wishbone up entrance and Hotchkiss setup with leaf springs within the again. The truck will trip on quite a lot of wheels that measure 17 to 22 inches tall. It might be simpler to foretell successful lotto numbers than trip and dealing with in each trim—strive before you purchase.
Consolation, security, and options
The 2021 F-150 whistles a well-recognized tune for consolation. Three mattress configurations, three cab sizes, six trims, select your fighter. A two-door common cab is accessible and work-ready. It’s paired to a 6-foot-6 or 8-foot mattress and measures as much as 227.7 inches from nostril to tail.
A four-door prolonged cab is barely extra helpful for work, because of extra in-cabin storage behind the primary row. Second-row riders received’t get a lot leg room—simply 33.5 inches—so it’s a greater occasional seat relatively than a household car substitute. The extended-cab variations pair to a 6-foot-6 mattress or 8-foot mattress and are so long as 250.Three inches.
The total-size four-door, which Ford calls “SuperCrew,” is the most well-liked and doubtless the truck you’re searching for, despite the fact that we’re not Jedis. It’s a household car for a lot of truck homeowners and affords 43.6 inches of rear seat leg room. It pairs with a 5-foot-6 mattress or 6-foot-6 mattress and measures as much as 243.5 inches lengthy. (In case you might want to verify the specs of your storage.)
Contemplating the breadth of the lineup, the 2021 F-150’s story of inside materials high quality could also be longer than “Battle and Peace.” Based mostly on our expertise, most F-150 vans are completed to a excessive commonplace for sturdiness and high quality, and luxurious trims are convincingly uptown—though your mileage might fluctuate relative to the value. New this 12 months is a fold-flat desk inside that requires a trick shifter, and airline-style fold-flat entrance seats. Neat.
The F-150’s mattress additionally provides new touches to assist with laborious work. The primary is a brand new out there tailgate designed with a stamped ruler and brackets prepared for a C-clamp. (There’s a bottle opener in case a tailgate breaks out in the midst of the workday.)
The second is an in-bed generator that may energy small instruments or TVs. Energy outputs fluctuate between 2.0-, 2.4-, and seven.2-kw, though the latter two can be found on hybrid vans solely. (Diesel and three.3-liter V-6 vans don’t provide it in any respect.)
Lights across the truck and within the mattress assist, identical goes for a kick-motion energy working board close to the mattress that makes reaching into the truck simpler.
Each F-150 is supplied with automated emergency braking and automated headlights, whereas XLT and better vans add a raft of security options that embody blind-spot displays, lively lane management, reverse automated emergency braking, and driver alert.
What’s extra, F-150 Lariat and better vans could be outfitted with a driver-facing digital camera that, subsequent summer season, allows hands-free driving on particular highways and interstates. It’s a primary for any full-size truck, though Ford hasn’t stated but how a lot it can price. (Open up that pockets twice, too. As soon as for the {hardware} prep package deal every so often for the self-driving software program later.)
We’re nonetheless in the dead of night for a way a lot the F-150 prices and the wonderful print on what exhibits up the place. We’ll replace this area with specifics on options by trim degree after we hear extra. The broad strokes? XL and XLT get an 8.0-inch touchscreen with wi-fi smartphone compatibility software program. Lariat and better sub in a 12.0-inch panorama touchscreen. Wash-and-ready vinyl are commonplace on base trims, whereas high fashions drape leather-based round their plush buckets.
The 2021 Ford F-150 goes on sale in fall 2020.
Let’s block advertisements! (Why?)
