San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
FORD’S NEWEST WORKHORSE
F-150 adds pop-up desk for laptops, flat-folding seats
Ford raises the bar for America’s favorite vehicle and cranks up the pressure on Chevy and Ram with the 2021 F-150 pickup, a package full of surprises arriving in dealerships just in time for the holidays.
New from the ground up, the F-150 offers more safety features, improved ride and handling, and a hybrid that saves fuel on the road and can power a work site when parked.
Top models like the King Ranch 4x4 crew cab I tested also get luxurious materials and everything from flatfolding seats for naps to a pop-up desk for laptops and clipboards.
It’s the type of vehicle American automakers do best, with new levels of security, technology and comfort.
The thought and creativity that went into the new F-150 are apparent in ways large and small.
Large: The most powerful version is also the most fuel efficient, a hybrid with 430 horsepower, 570 poundfeet of torque and an Epaestimated 24 mpg in both city and highway driving.
Small: A tailgate/workbench with built-in mobile phone holder, measuring sticks, receivers for Cclamps and a combined tie-down/bottle opener.
The 2021 F-150 is arriving at dealerships now, as assembly plants just outside Detroit and Kansas City, Mo., crank up production.
Driving impressions
The F-150 Powerboost 4WD hybrid had a twinturbo 3.5L V6, electric motor and 10-speed automatic transmission. The combination of Ford’s beefy Ecoboost V6 and immediate torque from the electric motor delivers smooth, powerful acceleration. Braking is sure and predictable thanks to effective blending of the conventional friction brakes and power regeneration to charge the battery. The engine’s fuel-saving autostop at traffic lights is unobtrusive.
The Powerboost hybrid system doubles as a generator. My pickup had the most powerful version, capable of 7.2 kw, enough power for many work sites. The bed includes one 240v and a pair of 120v outlets. In addition to plentiful power, the smooth 3.5L V6 is virtually silent compared with most portable generators.
There’s no plug-in hybrid, but a battery-only version of the F-150 is scheduled for sale in 2022.
The ride is smooth even over rough surfaces and speed humps, a tribute to a new suspension that led engineers to widen the F-150’s front and rear wheel tracks, one of the few dimensional changes from the old model. The steering is responsive and nicely weighted. The optional 18-speaker B&O Unleashed sound system in the loaded F-150 delivered excellent clarity and separation and featured speakers in the front headrests and headliner.
There’s very little wind or road noise.
The interior is spacious and comfortable. My King Ranch had etched and embossed wood trim. Optional Max Recline front seats recline absolutely flat for roadside naps, or whatever strikes your fancy.
Also foldable, but strictly for business, the consolemounted shifter retracts into the center console to create a flat surface when the truck’s in park. That accomplished, you can deploy a wide, useful work surface between the front bucket seats for everything from laptops to splitting a pizza. F-150s with a bench seat have a similar work surface hidden in the center seatback.
With those features and more at my disposal, I
needed to look a few things up. The electronic owner’s manual was less useful than I hoped. Its search function failed to return answers to what seemed like obvious terms, and didn’t seem to rank results when I hit on one it recognized. There’s an abbreviated hard-copy manual, but it’s highlightsonly, in case the touch screen crashes or the battery dies.
How much?
F-150 prices didn’t rise much for an all-new vehicle loaded with safety features that didn’t exist when the previous generation debuted. The base model, a rear-drive regular cab model, rose just $195 for 2021, to $28,940.
Like the previous F-150, the 2021 has aluminum body panels and a steel frame. Maximum towing capacity is 14,000 pounds. The hybrid can tow 12,400. Ford builds the F-150 with three cabs, three bed lengths and five wheelbases.
A 10-speed automatic transmission is standard, but there are six engine choices: 3.3L V6, 2.7L turbocharged V6, 3.0L V6 diesel. 5.0L V8, 3.5L twinturbo V6 and a 3.5L twinturbo V6 hybrid.
My F-150 King Ranch 4x4 crew cab was nearly top-ofthe-line, with a $59,755 base price. Options including the hybrid system, generator, panoramic sunroof, Max Recline front seats and preparation for a hands-free driving system coming as an over-the-air update next year raised the total to $75,210. All prices exclude destination charges.