The all-new 2023 Ford F-Series Super Duty lineup of pickup trucks and chassis cabs from Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn feature fighter jet-inspired head-up display and an available Pro Trailer Hitch Assist system that uses machine learning.
The head-up display and the smart trailer hitch assist are two of the “bumper-to-bumper” tech innovations the automaker gave the all-new Super Duty, which is designed to make life on or away from the jobsite more convenient and time-efficient.
An all-new head-up display, inspired by fighter jet planes, gives drivers quick visual access to vital information without pulling their eyes from the road. The HUD system projects information in front of the driver on the lower half of the windshield, quickly conveying information, and putting the most important information closer to the line of sight.
“We wanted to create an amazing digital experience for our most-focused truck customers, and our research led us to look at aircraft HUD concepts because of their task-oriented hierarchal structures,” says Mark Sich, digital design manager at Ford.
“But because pilots are trained to read information in a very prescribed and technical manner, our implementation needed the interaction to be more intuitive for the driver to immediately understand the context of the information being presented.”
Drivers can choose from three views — Normal Mode, Tow-Haul Mode, or Off-Road Mode — in order to see information most important to their trip. Each view changes automatically when a new drive mode is selected. In Normal Mode, information such as speed, speed limit and navigation prompts are displayed.
Tow-Haul Mode changes to include tachometer, gear, and trailer brake output. Off-Road Mode displays tachometer, drive line status, and vehicle pitch and roll updates.
More than 90 percent of heavy-duty pickup owners use their trucks to tow. Super Duty, with best-in-class maximum available payload and best-in-class maximum available diesel gooseneck towing of 40,000 pounds, helps ensure customers can tow and haul with confidence.
In addition, the 7.3-liter V8 gas engine produces 430 horsepower and 485 lb.-ft. of torque, while the High-Output 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 diesel produces 500 horsepower and 1,200 lb.-ft. of torque, all best-in-class according to Ford.
Available Pro Trailer Hitch Assist, an exclusive F-Series driver-assist feature developed in-house by Ford’s Advanced Driver-Assist Systems team, is designed to make an often-challenging task simple. Using machine learning and computer vision, the system automatically identifies trailer hitches and aligns the truck’s hitch ball to a conventional trailer coupler with the touch of a button.
This industry-first technology uses a rear camera and rear corner radars to align the hitch with the trailer coupler while simultaneously controlling the truck’s speed, steering, and braking on behalf of the driver or operator.
Super Duty owners now can power a jobsite or a tailgate with available Pro Power Onboard, with 2.0-kilowatts of output — five times more exportable power than any heavy-duty pickup. Power outlets are accessible inside the truck and cargo box, or they can be mounted on chassis cabs with a special outlet installation kit.
Cameras and sensors help interpret the world around the vehicle and enable available driver-assist features designed to simplify the towing experience and build confidence, including Tailgate Down Camera, Rear Park Aid Sensors, Pro Trailer Navigation, and Tail Turn Assist.
For business owners and fleet managers, retrieving important fleet data from often-unreliable plug-in devices is a thing of the past. Among the Super Duty tech features are the Ford Pro Intelligence software products such as Ford Pro Telematics, a cloud-based platform that uses vehicle data to give fleet managers access to valuable insights to help accelerate productivity that can help reduce vehicle and fleet downtime.
Where Super Duty already presents a well-equipped mobile office with a spacious interior and available Interior Work Surface, an embedded 5G modem ups the ante. This feature gives Super Duty owners faster Wi-Fi, mapping, and navigation while on the job.
And with over-the-air software updates, Super Duty gets better over time by adding new features and capabilities to enhance the customer experience. OTAs are capable of updating the vast majority of vehicle computer modules for quick and easy wireless upgrades that help enhance features, quality, experiences, capability and convenience.
The new Ford Pro Upfit Integration System (UIS) changes how business owners work with upfitters to install, operate and control body equipment and upfits — such as utility cranes or snowplows.
UIS provides aftermarket equipment makers with improved access to the truck’s electrical system and signals to seamlessly integrate after-market equipment. Equipment makers can also add digital buttons that allow Super Duty drivers to control their equipment from the SYNC touchscreen inside the truck. And with more reliable connections and vehicle integrations, owners no longer have to rely on cutting and splicing into the vehicle wiring and potentially voiding their vehicle warranty.
The system also allows for high levels of customization and interlocks, like preventing the transmission from shifting into drive with a raised boom lift.
The all-new 2023 Super Duty is shipping to customers now. For more information, visit ford.com.
