Ford innovations you didn’t know you needed

 

When you put people at the centre of everything you design sometimes you come up with innovations that make you wonder – why didn’t anybody think of this before!
 
Here at Ford, human-centric design is what we live and breathe, and it’s helped us to find some useful solutions to issues real people have found. You’re all familiar with our QuickClear windscreen, right? Well, here are some of the more recent things we’ve come up with that you might not have known you needed… until now:

Need somewhere to work (or eat your lunch) when in your van?
The steering wheel needn’t get in the way of your lunch or filling out paperwork from the driver’s seat of an E-Transit Custom¹. Our available fold flat steering wheel quickly doubles as useful table and easily returns to the normal position when it’s time to hit the road again.

Don’t want a big SUV but still need room for a couple of sets of golf clubs in the boot?
The MegaBox in the Ford Puma ² not only offers  up to 80-litres of extra storage space (and is drainable too for easy cleaning), but items up to 115 centimetres tall can use the extra depth be stowed in the boot in an upright position. Perfect for golf clubs, large house plants or even a folding push chair.  

Frosty morning and can’t find a scraper to de-ice the windscreen?
Our new, all-electric Ford Explorer’s⁴ flexible 17-litre MegaConsole is not only big enough to store items like a laptop but a removable section divider is also designed specifically to double as a handy ice scraper.
 

Want a pickup truck but sometimes you need to carry items longer than the truck bed?
Our available Flexible Rack System³  for Ford Ranger⁴ allows for long items like canoes or ladders to be carried on the roof, while also freeing up space in the load box. The Sliding Load Rack will secure in any of five positions along the load box with the item transported on top, the other end resting on the Folding Roof Rack above the cabin.  

Need a van with a bulkhead but hate having no rearview mirror?
Normally you’d look up to the rearview mirror and just see the bulkhead reflected. But with our available Full Display Interior Mirror, or “Smart Mirror”, you’ll see a panoramic view behind the van – with twice the field of view of a conventional rearview mirror – displayed on the in-built high-definition screen.    
 
We’re on a mission to keep making our vehicles as useful to you as possible, so watch out for future innovations from Ford that have genuine human needs at their core.
 

¹ Officially homologated driving range will be published closer to on-sale date. In accordance with the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). A range of up to 380 km published range (intended target value according to WLTP) can be achieved with a fully charged battery - depending on the existing series and battery configuration. The actual range may vary due to various factors (e.g. weather conditions, driving style, route profile, vehicle condition, age and condition of the lithium-ion battery).

² Puma EcoBoost homologated CO2 emissions 119-155 g/km WLTP, homologated fuel efficiency 5.3-6.8 l/100 km WLTP.

³ Officially homologated driving range will be published closer to on-sale date. In accordance with the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). A range of up to 380 km published range (intended target value according to WLTP) can be achieved with a fully charged battery - depending on the existing series and battery configuration. The actual range may vary due to various factors (e.g. weather conditions, driving style, route profile, vehicle condition, age and condition of the lithium-ion battery).

⁴ Flexible Rack System available on select models from 2023 production. Maximum load limit is 80kg (dynamic) and 250kg (static). Manual set-up required. Removal of antenna mast recommended when cargo positioned over antenna - may affect availability of radio, satellite and connected services. Cargo and load capacity limited by weight and weight distribution. Max payload varies and is based on accessories and vehicle configuration. See label on doorjamb for carrying capacity of a specific vehicle.

⁵ Ford Ranger homologated CO₂ emissions 208-294 g/km and homologated fuel efficiency 7.9-14.3 l/100 km WLTP. CO₂ emission and fuel efficiency ranges may vary according to vehicle variants offered by individual markets. The declared WLTP fuel/energy consumptions, CO₂-Emissions and electric range are determined according to the technical requirements and specifications of the European Regulations (EC) 715/2007 and (EU) 2017/11

Follow @FordNewsEurope