2013 Ford Atlas Concept, is this the much rumored concept?
Ford has unveiled a very intriguing concept truck to say the least. First off, I don’t believe this a concept for the 2015 Ford F-150. It is more an exploration of what sort of features we can expect in future trucks. Some of the design philosophy of this Ford Atlas concept might make its way to the F-150 in 2015, but I think this truck should be viewed mostly as a concept. It is jam packed with a laundry list of very awesome features. First and foremost we are going to look at fuel efficiency.
This truck, according to Ford, will be powered by a next-generation twin-turbocharged, direct injection EcoBoost engine with start/stop engine shutoff technology to save fuel in heavy traffic situations. Additionally the Atlas has shutters in both its grill and its wheels to make the Atlas more fuel efficient at speed. It also has a 6 inch wide integrated spoiler on the tailgate which should help improve aerodynamics as well. I particularly find the shutters in the wheel very intriguing, just because it is a concept I haven’t heard of before, I’ll be very interested to find out what sort of effect it has on mpg’s. Of course as mentioned before I am sure it will make extensive use of Aluminum, Magnesium and High Strength steel to shave off as much weight as possible to improve fuel economy.
Now onto practicality, the first thing I noticed in the Atlas pictures was the pop-out on the tailgate, it together with a cradle in the roof will allow people to easily haul canoe’s, surfboards, construction materials, etc. We can also see that Ford has looked at its crosstown rival (GM) and has incorporated LED’s in the rails of the truck bed.
Another very cool feature is that the Atlas will be able to back up trailers on its own! Backing up trailers can sometimes be very challenging, but here Ford takes automatic parking/park assist one step further and actually helps you park/back-up your trailers. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve offered my services at the camp ground to help people back up their campers. I think it will be particularly this audience that will be very excited about this feature.
Ford is careful to state that this is a concept, a tool with which they can do market research. I think that people attending the Detroit Auto Show this year will be very excited about these potential new features for their trucks in the future. Whether this is the much rumored truck that the news media was dubbing as the 2015 F-150, I don’t think so, but either way I am very excited for the future of Ford trucks.
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