{"id":75852,"date":"2024-08-18T09:03:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-18T13:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=75852"},"modified":"2024-08-18T09:03:38","modified_gmt":"2024-08-18T13:03:38","slug":"1143875_ford-tackling-aero-efficiency-with-deployable-roof-rack-rails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=75852","title":{"rendered":"Ford tackling aero efficiency with deployable roof rack rails"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ford is looking to patent <strong>roof rails and roof racks<\/strong> that can stow away when not in use, helping to reduce aerodynamic drag and potentially improving fuel economy or EV range.<\/p>\n<p>These potential aero-improving features were detailed in separate patent applications published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) July 11, 2024, and filed by Ford at earlier dates.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"static-marker-video-player-primis\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"image_wrapper first_wrapper\" readability=\"7\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" name=\"tccimg_100936918_m\" title=\"Ford deployable roof rail patent image\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAD\/ACwAAAAAAQABAAACADs=\" alt=\"Ford deployable roof rail patent image\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"first_image lazy\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"575\" data-url=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-deployable-roof-rail-patent-image_100936918_l.webp\" data-src-h=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/hug\/ford-deployable-roof-rail-patent-image_100936918_h.webp\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-deployable-roof-rail-patent-image_100936918_l.webp\" data-src-l=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-deployable-roof-rail-patent-image_100936918_l.webp\" data-src-m=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/med\/ford-deployable-roof-rail-patent-image_100936918_m.webp\" data-src-s=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/sml\/ford-deployable-roof-rail-patent-image_100936918_s.webp\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Ford deployable roof rail patent image<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>One patent application covers <strong>deployable roof rails<\/strong> that would pop up out of channels in a vehicle&#8217;s roof on hinges, and then serve as mounting points for cargo carriers and other accessories like the fixed roof rails already offered on many SUVs.<\/p>\n<p>Another patent application covers a <strong>deployable roof rack<\/strong>, although in this case the hardware appears tailored specifically to pickup trucks. The roof rack would be stowed behind the back wall of a pickup&#8217;s cab, at the front of the cargo bed, and pivot upward onto the roof when needed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image_wrapper\" readability=\"7\"><img decoding=\"async\" name=\"tccimg_100936913_m\" title=\"Ford deployable roof rack patent image\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAD\/ACwAAAAAAQABAAACADs=\" alt=\"Ford deployable roof rack patent image\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-width=\"1024\" data-height=\"576\" data-url=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-deployable-roof-rack-patent-image_100936913_l.webp\" data-src-h=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/hug\/ford-deployable-roof-rack-patent-image_100936913_h.webp\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-deployable-roof-rack-patent-image_100936913_l.webp\" data-src-l=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/ford-deployable-roof-rack-patent-image_100936913_l.webp\" data-src-m=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/med\/ford-deployable-roof-rack-patent-image_100936913_m.webp\" data-src-s=\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/sml\/ford-deployable-roof-rack-patent-image_100936913_s.webp\" class=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Ford deployable roof rack patent image<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Automakers don&#8217;t always commercialize features that they patent, Ford wouldn&#8217;t be alone in looking for new ways to improve aero efficiency. Hyundai has designed an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greencarreports.com\/news\/1142090_hyundai-s-active-air-skirt-tech-could-boost-range-in-evs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">active air skirt<\/a> for EVs that drops down ahead of the front wheels to reduce drag. The automaker claims this feature could help <strong>improve the aerodynamic performance<\/strong> of SUVs\u2014something that could also be said of Ford&#8217;s deployable roof rails.<\/p>\n<p>The need to maximize EV range has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greencarreports.com\/news\/1141487_the-ev-age-has-revived-a-century-old-obsession-with-aerodynamics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rekindled an obsession with aerodynamics<\/a> first seen nearly a century ago, sparking the creation of streamlined shapes for the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Volkswagen ID.7, among others. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greencarreports.com\/news\/1136604_review-mercedes-vision-eqxx-concept-escapes-the-ev-weight-spiral\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX concept<\/a> has also shown that greater emphasis on aero\u2014along with weight reduction\u2014could help dramatically <strong>boost EV efficiency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ford is looking to patent roof rails and roof racks that can stow away when not in use, helping to reduce aerodynamic drag and potentially improving fuel economy or EV range. These potential aero-improving features were detailed in separate patent applications published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) July 11, 2024, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design-concepts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}