2024 Ford F-150 reveal: Reimagined tailgate design with refrigerator-style door
Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press
6 min read
When Ford announces news of an F-150 pickup truck reveal, it's like Santa at the mall.
No fans ever tire of the event. They always line up for photos.
But the 2024 F-150 reveal Tuesday night at Hart Plaza in Detroit prior to the Detroit auto show offered a twist. While F-Series trucks have been bestsellers for decades, the 120-year-old automaker did something different this year. All because engineers went to Lowe's and Home Depot and Ace Hardware and watched consumers load up their trucks, which led to an all-new tailgate design with a door that opens like a refrigerator.
The 2024 Ford F-150 is revealed ahead of the 2023 North American International Auto Show at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on Tues., Sept. 12, 2023.
The Pro Access Tailgate can drop down, as is traditional, for workers to load big bags of dirt or wood. But the 5-foot-1-inch mom who can't reach all the way into the truck bed now has the option to open a door, even while the truck is hooked up to a trailer. No hassle. If a driver hears something come loose in the truck bed, she pulls over, walks to the back and peeks through the swing gate that opens. A bumper step may be unfolded for use, if needed.
Faster. Easier. Unique.
"It's another example of the best never rest," spokesman Mike Levine said. "This tailgate ends the tailgate wars."
Ford Motor Co. revealed its 2024 F-150 pickup truck with a new swing gate door within the tailgate on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.
Pricing: $38,565 to $111,550
Both Chevy Silverado and Ram have innovative truck bed designs. But no automaker, till now, has come up with enough power (and outlets) onboard to run power tools at a worksite or electrify a sound system for a wedding reception while accessing the truck bed through a tailgate door while the whole thing is hooked up to a trailer.
The price starts at $36,570 plus $1,995 in destination and delivery fees. So, an XL regular cab with a 6.5 foot box 101A with a 2.7 liter engine totals $38,565. A high-performance Raptor R starts at $111,550, including fees.
Ford revealed its 2024 F-150 at Hart Plaza in Detroit on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023 as a preview event for the North American International Detroit Auto Show.
"The (tailgate) door has three different angles to open to the side when towing a trailer," Levine said. "The door also allows better access to the cargo box to reach further into it. And you can still open the tailgate straight down with a key fob."
Heavy towing capability is a Ford "super power," its engineers said. The new pickup can tow 13,500 pounds and has a payload of 2,455.
A 2024 Ford F-150 can tow 13,500 lbs. and the new gate swing door can open while a trailer is hooked to the truck. Ford revealed the truck on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023 at Hart Plaza in Detroit.
This latest development follows the popular Pro Power feature, inspired by workers who took generators in the truck to power construction sites. Ford engineers decided they could provide power that replaces a noisy, heavy space-consuming generator that requires extra fuel.
Truck research at the 76 Station
Ford calls all this "truck anthropology" or getting into the heads of consumers and figuring out their needs.
Alana Strager, 53, of Plymouth, has a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Michigan State University and applies what she knows and learns to truck design as the F-150 program manager. Her father (and mentor) held the role before her.
"Before he passed, he was emphatic that I belonged at Ford," she said. "I used to drive up to the 76 Station off I-75 and talk to all the truck owners of our competitors and ask, 'What do you like, not like? What would make this the best vehicle for you in terms of comfort, convenience, features.' As soon as my dad learned I was doing that, he asked me to stop immediately, saying, 'You can't go by yourself!'"
Melvin Strager, a Ford truck program manager who urged his daughter Alana to follow in his footsteps before he died, is seen here in Farmington Hills after her graduation from Michigan State University in 1993.
At almost 5-foot-1, Strager laughed and said this 2024 F-150 is the culmination of her life's work.
A retro look on the grille
The front end is a throwback design with a wraparound grille going all the way around the headlamps, so the headlamps are designed within the grille.
The 2024 Ford F-150 is revealed ahead of the 2023 North American International Auto Show at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on Tues., Sept. 12, 2023.
"That's not something we've done in the past 20 or 30 years," Stager told the Detroit Free Press. "We surveyed our own truck customers and asked about their pain points. One that continued to come up was reaching over the tailgate. So now you can swing open a door, get right in the bed, and fix the strap or load your mulch, concrete, a container of 36-pack waters, Yeti coolers.
"When you stand up and put things through the door, you should be able to do so without banging your elbows. Now, you won't. We watched people." said Stager, who began her career working on heavy trucks 33 years ago.
Alana Strager, Ford F-150 program manager, with her horse Grace in July 2023. Seeing women load and unload pickup trucks while towing horse trailers helped inspire a new tailgate design on the 2024 F-150.
Her daughter goes to horse shows on weekends, and Stager saw moms all driving big trucks.
"Most women say they will be buried in their trucks because they love them," Stager said.
Sinister vs. harmonious
Bob Brancheau, senior color and materials designer at Ford, said he bought a Ford F-150 when he was doing carpentry work to pay for his art school education.
Now, he said, "we've refreshed the front end — to make it more sophisticated" with modernity, toughness and style.
The 2024 F-150 has a retro grill as part of the new features revealed Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023 at Hart Plaza at the start of the North American International Auto Show.
Texture on the grilles conceals stone marks and the LED headlamps perform better in the daytime and at night, Brancheau said. Some while some color combinations are dark and sinister, others (such as "smoked truffle") are intended to lend a harmonious feel, he said.
Another new feature is a pop-up storage box that tucks neatly under the backseat and locks.
Interior of the 2024 Ford F-150 Platinum is designed to combine luxury and utility for work and play. The vehicle was revealed at Hart Plaza on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.
This latest F-150 "has brains and brawn," said John Emmert, general manager of Ford North America trucks.
He touted 4 million miles of durability testing that included punishing heat at the Arizona Proving Ground and an all-aluminum military grade body.
An estimated 10% of the F-150 vehicles sold year-to-date are hybrid, which are powered by a traditional gasoline-powered engine plus an electric motor that uses energy stored in batteries. The F-150 hybrid full-size pickup charges the battery through regenerative braking, not by plugging the battery into a charger.
Jim Farley sees F-150 hybrid demand surge
Ford CEO Jim Farley, left, takes a photo with Khadijah and her father Arif Motorwala during the Ford F-150 Fest at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on Tues., Sept. 12, 2023.
Ford CEO Jim Farley told the Free Press, during his visit to the 2024 F-150 reveal at Hart Plaza, "We think we’ll sell close to 20% hybrid (F-150 trucks) with Pro Power on board. We have the chance to be the most successful hybrid sales in the U.S. No one would have ever thought that Ford could even get close to a (Toyota) Prius or (Toyota) RAV4 hybrid. I think it’s close."
The F-150 hybrid can power a home, a job site or a Lions football tailgate party, Farley said.
"I think everyone pictured hybrid as these super fuel efficient compact cars, (actor) Larry David putting around in Curb Your Enthusiasm with his Prius," Farley said laughing. "And here we are, with the most popular truck in America potentially being the bestselling hybrid in the country. Just think how much things have changed."
However, shape or size of the truck bed does not change, Stager said. Even 1 millimeter can cause an uproar, she said. "Customers say, 'Don't take away my space. We don't. And we won't. Plus this is five-star crash rated. I wouldn't put my kid in anything else."
