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New technologies will now be available for the 2021 Ford F-150 including class-exclusive Onboard Scales and Smart Hitch as well as continuously controlled damping, each engineered to help customers who tow and haul load their trucks up for the work they’re designed to do while also adding on-road confidence.

The 2021 Ford F-150 Gets 3 New Genius Features Adding to Its GOAT Status

The 2021 Ford F-150 is changing the game right and left. The myriad of insanely useful features this truck exhibit makes us repeatedly ask, “why hasn’t anyone done this before?” The hybrid F-150 built-in generator bailed multiple people out of catastrophe in Texas this past winter. This feature alone makes the 2021 F-150 the most …

The 2021 Ford F-150 is changing the game right and left. The myriad of insanely useful features this truck exhibit makes us repeatedly ask, “why hasn’t anyone done this before?”

New technologies will now be available for the 2021 Ford F-150 including class-exclusive Onboard Scales and Smart Hitch as well as continuously controlled damping, each engineered to help customers who tow and haul load their trucks up for the work they’re designed to do while also adding on-road confidence.
2021 Ford F-150 | Ford

The hybrid F-150 built-in generator bailed multiple people out of catastrophe in Texas this past winter. This feature alone makes the 2021 F-150 the most useful pickup on earth. Now Ford says that the 2021 F-150 will be getting another super handy feature that goes to pad the GOAT status of the F-150. 

The 2021 Ford F-150 is the GOAT

The Drive reports that Ford just announced that the 2021 F-150 will be getting three new features that will make truck life a bit simpler. The first of the three is a digital scale that shows how much weight is in the bed of the truck with the push of a button. 

Overloading your truck bed can cause serious damage, and having the ability to quickly and accurately find out how much your carrying is a killer feature. The payload weight will give you the read-out on the infotainment screen or your phone’s screen. The really wild part is that the F-150 taillights will even show you how much weight you’re carrying. 

Smart taillamps operate like the battery charge indicator on a mobile phone, displaying the percentage of payload capacity by illuminating LEDs arranged in a built-in vertical bar. As the truck is loaded, all four lights illuminate, showing it’s fully loaded. If the truck is overloaded, the top lights blink. The maximum payload based on the pickup’s configuration is programmed into the system. Additionally, the truck can be set on scale mode, which zeroes out the current load and allows for approximate weighing of additional items loaded into the bed.
Smart tail lamps operate like the battery charge indicator on a mobile phone | Ford

Yep, the taillights can act as a sort of meter that can show in real-time how much weight you are carrying. As The Drive notes, think about it like the blocks in your phone’s battery meter.

The LED taillights will light up the blocks in the orange part of the tail light to show you when to stop loading. Ford’s disclaimer is that the weight is approximate, making some judgment still necessary. 

The smart hitch is also a killer feature

Ford has also seen fit to include a similar weight-themed feature for the trailer hitch. This smart hitch can tell the driver the tongue weight of anything the F-150 has in tow. Yet again, this is a significant piece of information that anyone towing would do well to know.

New technologies will now be available for the 2021 Ford F-150 including class-exclusive Onboard Scales and Smart Hitch as well as continuously controlled damping, each engineered to help customers who tow and haul load their trucks up for the work they’re designed to do while also adding on-road confidence.
Infotainment screen for 2021 Ford F-150 | Ford

This feature is not only going to help people keep their trucks safe but towing too much weight can be very dangerous. Knowing how much your rig weighs before shoving off is really valuable. 

The last of the three features 

Lastly, The Drive mentions a new suspension system that offers “continuously controlled damping,” which will ultimately make for a better ride. Even though Ford told the Drive that this system is different from active dampers, it is unclear how exactly this is different, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. 

These three new features will start rolling out on real F-150 trucks in June. These new features, along with the hybrid powertrain and built-in generator, add up to a pickup truck so useful and thoughtful that other trucks will be forced to adapt or be left behind. 

The 2021 Ford F-150 is making a hard play for the GOAT; frankly, I don’t see a close second anywhere around. However, the pickup truck market is changing so quickly that it is anyone’s guess for what will come out next.

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