This 2021 Ford F-150 Platinum is equipped with basically all of the 2021 F-150's cool new options, including the Max Recline fold-flat seats, center console Interior Work Surface and Pro Power Onboard.
TranscriptBYRON HURD: Hey, everybody. It's Byron here with Autoblog. This is the 2021 Ford F-150. As you can see, this is a platinum model equipped with the Max reclined seats. We've also got a few other neat tricks on this. So I'm going to hop in as soon as this does its thing. And I'll give you guys a little walk around on the truck. Hope you enjoy it.
OK, so now you've got me inside the cabin of this 2021 Ford F-150. This is a platinum model super crew, as you can see from the full doors. This is not the fanciest Ford F-150 you can get. That honor goes to the limited model for the time being. But this one is pretty decked out.
We've got nice interior trim, this nice leather with these fancy little badges, and some other nice touches. This also comes obviously with just about every feature you can get on one of these. We've got leather-wrapped wheel with the contrast stitching to match the upholstery. We've got the interior work surface, which I'll demo for you again here in a minute, obviously the Max Reclined seats which we've already touched on, and the fancy new infotainment system.
So I figured I'd give you guys just a quick walk around, show you where we are with the brand new Ford F-150. OK, now that I've got our EcoBoost fired up and running, you can see the infotainment screen. everything's nice and lit up. So walk you through a few of the features of the new F-150 here.
For starters, the infotainment. This is larger for 2021. I will say, however, that they didn't actually do a whole lot with that extra real estate. Yeah, it's bigger. But the resolution is effectively the same as is the aspect ratio. So really what they've done is kind of zoom in on the existing screen space. They haven't actually done a whole lot with that extra real estate.
As you may or may not be able to see, depending on the angle of the shot right now, this is equipped with Ford's new propeller on board. So what you get with this is essentially a bed-mounted power distribution system that you can use to plug in normal appliances.
The system in this particular model because it's not a hybrid is limited to 2 kilowatts or 2,000 watts of power draw. And as you can see possibly from your angle, we're using less than 200 right now because this is shared with all the other systems in the truck obviously. So there's going to be some load on it no matter what.
The upgraded Max output unit actually has a split set up so that part of the circuit that you plug into in the rear is shared with cabin, including the plugs, including 110 that we have here in the cab and the bed. The other one is independent dedicated circuit. You can use them both. They won't load share. They're entirely separate circuits.
However, you will be able to see their draw simultaneously with side by side gauges in this infotainment screen instead of just the single one that we see with this particular system. And I'll remind you, you can only get the high output propeller on board if you opt for the hybrid.
With the regular gasoline engines or the diesel, you're stuck with the lower output version. As you can see, I'm sitting on the driver's side seat in Max Recline mode. Essentially all it means is that their total range of motion is effectively allowing the seat to go back almost 180 degrees.
There's no quick button that gets you there. You have to hold down the little switch on the side of the seat just like you would to lower any normal vehicle seat. But when it's in this stretch out mode, it's relatively comfortable. The only downside is there's really no support for your lower body. It may not be ideal for sleeping. But certainly it's better than what you get when you don't have this option.
Now, of course, Ford's other interior party piece is this interior workspace thing it has. So a couple things to note about this system. First of all, it only works while you're in park for reasons that will become obvious as soon as I demonstrate it to you. Second, it's perhaps slightly overengineered. We'll get to that.
So you have the vehicle in park and running as we do right now. There's a button right here forward of the gear selector that you press. The gear selector retracts. Step two, this is the hard part. Reach down, grab the handle, flip the thing forward. And there you have it-- a nice almost completely flat surface on which to place a laptop, a notebook, pretty much anything you're trying to do short of a meth lab.
The downsides to this are, first of all, it's only good when you're parked. Now, on spec, that doesn't seem like that big of a deal. But say your passenger is the one who does your paperwork for you and you just want to get to McDonald's, obviously you have a problem.
Second, we're writers, and we have somewhat active imaginations. All we can picture is the quantity and quality of debris that is going to collect inside this recess. Just imagine what that space is going to look like after the 14th time you spill a big gulp. It's a neat feature, but it's going to get sticky. It's going to get nasty. And frankly, this will probably be glued to that recess by coffee. It is pretty cool though, right?
[HUMMING]
It's one of those hey me kind of features that exists with that intersection of complexity and simplicity. Frankly, we're not entirely certain how many people use it. But we're glad it exists, especially since it gives us something to make a video about when we're stuck working from home. So just a couple more little things that I'll go ahead and touch on here while I've got you up front.
This little cubby here, which has this just delightful almost wood finish to it-- looks like a kind of composite deck boards that you might buy at Lowe's these days-- hidden beneath it, you get a wireless charging pad for your cell phone-- probably can't get any tablets in there. It's a bit small-- a USBC and a USBA port. Those are outlined in blue, which tells me they're designed for interfacing with the sync infotainment system.
Then in addition to what is in that cubby, there are redundant type A and type C USB ports on the passenger side of the interior of the center cubby. And in the back, we have yet another 12 volt, yet, another 110 volt, and, yet, another USB type A and type C. So if you want to plug something in on a Ford F-150 Platinum, [BLOWS AIR] you've got options. That's not even considering what's out back.
And while we're on the subject of power, I figured I'd bring you out back here for a quick look at the Pro Power onboard outdoor hookups. So the system, which has the, as we said, lower output set up, you can see two three-prong 110-volt plugs right there.
If this were the higher output system, there'd be 220. The basic hybrid setup supports 2.4 kilowatts. The big boy will do 7.2. That will power a lot of tailgating. There you have it, 2021 Ford F-150 Platinum.
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