Ford’s upcoming Fathom EV truck could have a tailgating-friendly ‘frunk’ shelf so you can put an actual TV on there to watch sports outdoors — at least, Ford’s applied for a patent on the idea | Daily Reports Online
- A Ford patent shows multi-use front trunk including a TV-housing option
- Images look very like the Ford Fathom, which is coming in 2027
- Ford’s EV pickup will start at $28,350 (around £20,970 / AU$39,540)
Ford’s upcoming Fathom electric truck could have a very unusual addition: a small front trunk that could house a TV, for the ultimate tailgating upgrade.
As Electrek reports, Ford has filed a patent with several diagrams showing a fold-out, tailgate-style area in the front of an unnamed vehicle that’s believed to be the Fathom.
The design takes advantage of EVs’ lack of a traditional engine compartment, which means you can have storage space at the front of the car or truck. It appears to offer a large, flat space like you’d find in a pickup such as Ford F-150 Lightning, plus a fold-out tailgate that can be used for multiple purposes, including holding a TV, presumably to be powered by the battery while you sit in camp chairs with a six-pack.
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What the patents say about Ford’s Fathom’s frunk
The design looks well-suited to tailgate parties, and for camping trips and anywhere else a TV might be watched — so for example if you were selling products at a market you could use the back of the Fathom to carry your goods and your stall and your tailgate TV to show the promo video.
And you shouldn’t need to worry about the TV draining your battery: the Fathom is expected to have a large battery for over 300 miles of range, so a TV isn’t going to make a big dent in that capacity.
The TV isn’t the only interesting idea here. The patent suggests that the top of the hood could be swappable, enabling you to replace it so you can put things on it — such as food or tools — without spoiling your vehicle’s finish. Presumably the design would also include a storage space for those swappable bits rather having you leave them lying loose around on the frunk’s floor.
As for the rest of the upcoming EV, Ford has been drip-feeding details for months now: it’s a midsize pickup with more passenger room than a Toyota RAV4, it’s launching in early 2027 and it’ll have a surprisingly low starting price of $28,350. It comes with Apple Maps integration, CarPlay and Android Auto.
What we don’t know yet is what it really looks like: as you can see from the image at the top of the article, the images Ford have released so far are camouflaged. But from what we’ve seen of the shape it looks suitably tough, and it’s priced very aggressively. Ford promises that the camo will come off in 2027.
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