Ford recently filed a patent application for a hatch between the cab and bed of a pickup truck, essentially a midgate pass-through that would make it possible to load longer items on the bed. The feature allows for loading longer objects without having to secure them and or have them protrude from the vehicle.
That Ford is working on this is no shocker. General Motors (GM) will be introducing such a tailgate with its Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV electric pickups.
Ford's application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) was published yesterday, though Ford submitted it for the first time on October 31, 2022.
The idea of a central hatch that increases the body's capacity is not new. In the early 2000s, GM introduced such a feature with its Avalanche pickup. What this also allowed was a more spacious cab for the occupants, especially those seated in the rear, without cutting into the bed's capacity.
The disadvantage is that if you open the central tailgate to place longer objects in the box, you have to fold down the second-row seats. Longer objects can therefore be transported, but not with passengers seated in the rear.
We'll have to see what Ford does next. It's easy to imagine that it could introduce this feature with the full-size electric pickup it's preparing, a model that will replace the current Lightning version of the F-150. Its debut was recently postponed by a year, but it shouldn't be long before we see the first examples of it at auto shows.
For Canadians, the catch of course is that such a hatch could not necessarily be used during the weather, except for short distances.