The Autoblog 2022 Technology of the Year winner is Ford’s Onboard Scales and Smart Hitch hauling/towing tech found in the F-150 lineup. This new technology, as tested in the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning, is a huge boon to pickup owners. Not only will it make observing your truck’s maximum loads easier and more intuitive, but it will also ensure you’re hauling and towing in the safest-possible manner.
We tested numerous other technologies such as the GMC Hummer EV’s CrabMode and the Genesis GV60’s biometric authentication systems, but Ford’s Onboard Scales and Smart Hitch took home the prize.
TranscriptGREG MIGLIORE: Every year, Autoblog tests the latest and the greatest technologies that are reshaping the automotive sector. After much debate, a little bit of arguing, we reached a verdict. The winner of the 2022 Autoblog Technology of the Year is the Onboard Scales and Smart Hitch in the Ford F-150 lightning.
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JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: We are at the 2022 Autoblog Tech of the Year Testing Competition. This is a Ford F-150 Lightning, and we're here to test two technologies-- the Smart Hitch and the Onboard Scales. Let's take a look.
So the first thing we're going to test is the Smart Hitch. We've already got a small trailer from U-Haul hooked up to the trailer hitch. So we need to go to the Smart Hitch mode here in the infotainment screen. You can see we've already hit that button. The next thing we're going to do is Quick Setup.
Here, we have an instruction that says, "Add all cargo in the truck, then reset the hitch weight." So let's do that. Reset the hitch weight. We'll say Yes. Hitch weight is reset to zero. Next.
We're going to enter the total weight of the loaded trailer. We'll hit the button to do that. Our weight is about 800 pounds, which includes 600 for the trailer and one 200 pounds Autoblogger. So we'll set it to 800 pounds. Confirm.
Next, now we see this graph right here. The red means it's loaded improperly. The green means it's loaded properly. You can go improperly too far in the back of the trailer, or too far in the front. All right, Byron. Go ahead and hop in.
So as you can see, Byron's at the back of the trailer right now. And we are improperly loaded. Go ahead and start moving forward. And as he moves forward, you'll see this line start to move up.
And oh, we're good. Now we've gone too far. So go ahead and back up. And when you're in this green, you'll get a check that says you're good to go. And that's how it's done.
So that is the Smart Hitch. Pretty cool tech. Now we're going to take a look at the onboard scales. Again, from the vehicle screen-- we're in Smart Hitch now-- we're going to hit Onboard Scales. We get the same messages as before, and then we get this handy graph that gives you a visual representation of how much weight of the payload you've taken up.
So Byron, you want to climb in the truck bed again? So now, as Byron gets into the bed of the pickup truck, you can see the scale move. Hey Joel, you want to put some weight in the front trunk? One neat thing about this technology is it will measure weight in the front and the rear.
So as we can see, the weight screen went back up. The system works. And when people get out of the front trunk and pickup truck bed-- go ahead and get out of there, Joel, Byron, you can go ahead and hop out-- we'll see the bar fall back into the green area. Pretty cool technology.
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