Ford is going to be pushing a lot of camera-based safety tech in their vehicles over the next couple years. Explorer and Edge will get 180º forward visibility with cameras mounted to both sides of the bow, while the 2017 Super Duty pickups will have seven cameras so might have a chance of parking it without clearing your block.
Rear-view cameras will be standard on all Ford “light passenger vehicles” by 2018, and they say front cameras “should be available” on most of their models by 2020. I imagine the seven-camera Super Duty setup will be optional. The idea is, these trucks and SUVs will be able to “see around corners.”
I guess if the nose is really long and you inch it out ahead of a building, a front-mounted camera could see something perpendicular to your vehicle before the driver could. The system’s supposed to be active under 6.5 MPH.
We’ve been told that a revised version of the Super Duty trucks is slated for the 2017 model year, though Ford is keeping it close to the chest and only referring to it as “the next” Super Duty. We do know it’ll use a lot of aluminum like this year’s F-150 and by virtue of that might actually have to get redesigned for the first time since, what, at least the Clinton administration right?
The 2016 Ford F-150 half-ton pickup will be available with up to five cameras for maneuvering and trailer loading, but the updated F-250, 350, and 450 Super Duty models will get what Ford calls “the company’s most advanced camera technology” when the model is updated in the next couple years.
Specifically; “Up to seven cameras and all-new digital architecture (whatever that means) – helping customers see more angles around a truck and trailer than ever before.”
Okay, so that’s not really too specific at all. But I think we can expect more neat tricks like the trailer-assist setup that are more interesting than just “another camera angle.” Then again, any extra visibility you can get is a huge asset when you’re trying to negotiate a 20 foot truck around town. Sorry, 19’4.”
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