Ford is trying to patent roof rails and roof racks that may stow away when not in use, serving to to scale back aerodynamic drag and probably enhancing gasoline financial system or EV vary.
These potential aero-improving options have been detailed in separate patent purposes printed by america Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) July 11, 2024, and filed by Ford at earlier dates.
Ford deployable roof rail patent picture
One patent software covers deployable roof rails that may pop up out of channels in a automobile’s roof on hinges, after which function mounting factors for cargo carriers and different equipment just like the mounted roof rails already supplied on many SUVs.
One other patent software covers a deployable roof rack, though on this case the {hardware} seems tailor-made particularly to pickup vans. The roof rack could be stowed behind the again wall of a pickup’s cab, on the entrance of the cargo mattress, and pivot upward onto the roof when wanted.
Ford deployable roof rack patent picture
Automakers do not at all times commercialize options that they patent, Ford would not be alone in searching for new methods to enhance aero effectivity. Hyundai has designed an energetic air skirt for EVs that drops down forward of the entrance wheels to scale back drag. The automaker claims this function might assist enhance the aerodynamic efficiency of SUVs—one thing that is also stated of Ford’s deployable roof rails.
The necessity to maximize EV vary has rekindled an obsession with aerodynamics first seen almost a century in the past, sparking the creation of streamlined shapes for the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Volkswagen ID.7, amongst others. The Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient EQXX idea has additionally proven that higher emphasis on aero—together with weight discount—might assist dramatically enhance EV effectivity.