Ford’s ‘Personal Bullet Train’ Seats Could Twist And Slide For Children and Cargo
Ford‘s new family car may have a twist.
The automaker has received a patent for a reconfigurable seating setup aimed at improving on-board child car and cargo carrying capability.
The patent illustrates a three row vehicle with rail mounted seats that can be positioned in a wide variety of ways.
The front passenger seat can swivel 180 degrees to make it easier to keep an eye on children in car seats in the second row.
The second row seats are also able to swivel toward the doors for installing car seats or otherwise assisting with seating.
Both of the first and second row seats on the passenger side have flip up bottoms that open up pass-through space and also allow them to be slid all the way forward to create a cargo area that can be accessed through the side.
It’s not mentioned in the patent, but the seating setup looks similar to one shown to illustrate a new electric family car Ford has in the works for 2025 that CEO Jim Farley likened to a “Personal Bullet Train.”
PATENT REVEALS FORD’S AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES COULD BE CLEAN MACHINES
The new model is being developed with Level 3 autonomous driving capability that will potentially allow the driver and passengers to go to sleep on the highway as it is in operation according to Ford.
The patent also depicts an arrangement with the front passenger seat reclined business class-style with an extended leg rest.
“It’s beautiful and like anything in the segment so far,” Doug Field, Ford’s new head of electric vehicles, said. “It’ll be a longer, sleeker, quieter vehicle with amazing size and features of an interior space.”
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Full details on the vehicle have yet to be revealed, but Field said it will have a highway driving range of 300 miles at 70 mph.
