In an effort to stay ahead of its full-size pickup truck competitors, it appears Ford has filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a sliding cargo bed platform that may be part of a future update for the F-150 pickup.
As TheDrive.com points out, this is not a new idea, but they're quick to downplay the concept as one well-known among commercial vehicle upfitters, but we think it's notable as something that, to our knowledge, has never been done before as a factory pickup truck option.
Ford's patent application contains the usual long list of written details of how it would work, including mention of a "slidably disposed" platform with a "drive assembly," that clearly suggest the bed platform will slide in and out on electric power and include a safety feature that stops its movement if an obstacle is detected.
A handful of line drawings accompany the patent filing, one of which shows a schematic of a hybrid drive system, something we already knew was coming to the 2017 Ford F-150. The question that remains is whether the sliding bed platform will appear before the 2020 arrival of a hybrid pickup.
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