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Payne: Ford F-150 Swiss Army Knife, Edition 2024
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 22, 2024
Palm Springs, California — It’s good to drive a Swiss Army Knife.
Miles from my hotel in the California desert, work called. I needed to update a Detroit News story with a quote from a source in Texas. My 2024 Ford F-150 knife went into action. I pulled to the side of the road and dragged my big laptop briefcase out of the backseat. Pressed a button next to the gear stalk and (poof!) the shifter disappeared into the console.
I pressed another button and the rear console folded forward — filling the front console with a tabletop. Opened the laptop, connected to the Internet via my Android phone’s mobile hotspot (I could have used the truck’s 5G WiFi as well), called the source. I typed in the story. Uploaded to our cloud server. Returned the Swiss Army Knife console to its original, gear-shifting purpose.
The 2024 Ford F-150 hope to continue Ford’s ride as the best-selling truck in the industry. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Back on the road. America’s armies of remote business professionals take note.
Full-size pickups — from GM, Ram, Toyota — are Swiss Army Knives and the Ford is the top-selling tool of the lot for 47 years. Heck, it’s been the best-selling vehicle for 42. For ‘24 it gets even more tools including semi-autonomous, hands-free Blue Cruise driving, a head-up display, and Pro Access Tailgate. Add to its dexterity the ability to capture carbon credits while Ford’s Model-E electric vehicles division is hemorrhaging red ink trying to transition to an electric future mandated by government rules.
In order to increase the percentage of Powerboost Hybrid V-6 sales from 10% to 20% to help satisfy regulations, F-150 is also offering customers a little sugar with a $1,900 discount (to bring the price in line with the best-selling 3.5-liter V-6) and extending the hybrid powertrain option down to XLT and STX models (in addition to higher trims).
That means more people with access to pickup bed tools that can run electric coolers, television screens, and cookers. America’s army of tailgaters, picnic packers, and overlanders take note.
All of this capability, however, doesn’t come cheap, and the F-150 is now essentially a luxury-priced vehicle. The base, rear-wheel-drive work truck opens the bidding at nearly $40k and the best-selling, XLT trim — when equipped with popular four-wheel-drive and towing options — pushes $58k, the same price as a BMW 5-series. Oof.
Like a Swiss Army Knife retail display, you can choose the number of accessories you want. My top-line, F-150 Platinum tester was a beauty with panoramic roof, padded leather thrones, chromed everything, and 22-inch chrome wheels that you can see from space. But I don’t need all that bling.
The luxurious interior of the 2024 Ford F-150 Platinum. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
What I do need is that tabletop tool — aka, the $538 Mobile Office Package — to match my road-wandering lifestyle. It’s available on any model, from the base, XT model right up the lineup. Four-wheel-drive is not.
As a Michiganian with a weakness for off-roading at, say, Holly Oaks ORV Park, I covet the FX4 package which brings all-terrain tires, skid plates, and a rear locker. Which, let’s be honest, I’ll use in Michigan’s relentless, snow-drifted winters more often than I’ll need it on Holly’s high hills. My Subaru-owning wife and I are on the same page: if you drive a lot in the chilly Mitten State better come equipped with 4WD (and mittens). That’s a $3,880 bump.
Gotta have the XLT or STX trim for the off-road-focused FX4 package. Ka-ching ka-ching. That’s another $2,180 bump.
The console of the 2024 Ford F-150 can be used as a tabletop work space. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
And when it comes to off-roading, I’ll likely be towing with my Ford more than getting its pretty face dirty. I’m tempted by the Tremor, the F-150’s off-road bruiser that can crush off-road trails with its 33-inch all-terrain tires while towing your house. While it can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound like the legendary Raptor (see Thursday Drive review), it boasts more towing and payload capacity while delivering my coveted adaptive cruise control (still no standard head-up display) and fierce looks for $12k less than the V-6 Raptor. But that’s still an eye-watering $68.5k.
Um, back to my STX build. If you’ve got a weakness for on-road racing, buy a sportscar. If you have a weakness for the dirt, buy a side-by-side RZR.
With trailer, that’s about 3,000 pounds to tow, which the F-150 can do with one arm tied behind its back. Opt for the $2,355 tow package and you’ll unlock Ford’s class-leading 13,500-pound tow capability. Oh, and the 400-horsepower, 5.0-liter V-8 that comes with it.
Ohhhh, the eight-holer.
The 2024 Ford F-150 offers a new Pro Access tailgate that makes bed access a cinch. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Ford gets V-8s. They define muscle cars, scream luxury, make grown men’s knees knock. Ford’s Powerboost, twin-turbo hybrid V-6 is a marvelous piece of technology with its 570-pound feet of torque, 734-mile range, and 2.4-or-7.2 kW battery capability that can power a worksite or a tailgate party all day long.
But stomp on the pedal and its doesn’t go WAAAAURGH! Like a V-8. It’s why there’s a Raptor R at the top of the F-150 lineup. It connects with something deep in the trucker’s soul. Count me in.
I don’t do tailgate parties or worksites, but I do like to carry luggage around in the bed, so I added a tonneau cover for $1,200.
My sum for an F-150 STX with 4WD and cloth seats? $56,840. That’s luxury dough.
The 2024 Ford F-150 hybrid has 734 mile range. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
More than what I paid for a BMW M3 and Alfa Romeo 4C. And it doesn’t include two items I cherish: the head-up display and adaptive cruise control, both standard on my son’s $34,000 Mazda3 Turbo. The lack of ACC particularly pains me as I use it constantly on the interstates and around town to keep me on good terms with the local police.
But, dang-it-all, ACC is only available on high trims and the XLT. Reach for it on the XLT and I have to buy the Powerboost which jumps the sticker to, cough, over $71k. That’s Corvette country. Oof again.
The beauty of the light duty Swiss Army Knife is that it offers infinite combinations (though Ford insists it is simplifying the choices to streamline manufacturing). As I drove from the desert of Johnson Valley to the posh Indian Wells valley in California, I saw F-150s on farms, dirt, and ‘burbs. LT, Lariat, Platinum. There’s a tool for everyone.
2024 Ford F-150
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear and four-wheel-drive five-passenger pickup truck
Price: $38,765, including $1,995 destination fee ($87,625 Platinum as tested)
Powerplant: 2.7-liter “Ecoboost” turbo-V6, 5.0-liter V-8, 3.5-liter “Ecoboost” twin-turbo V-6, 3.5-liter, “Powerboost” twin-turbo V-6 hybrid
Power: 325 horsepower, 400 pound-feet of torque (2.7L V-6); 400 horsepower, 410 pound-feet of torque (V-8); 400 horsepower, 500 pound-feet of torque (3.5L V-6); 430 horsepower, 570 pound-feet of torque (hybrid)
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.4 seconds (3.5L V-6, Car and Driver); towing, 13,500 lbs; payload, 2,455
Weight: est. 5,800 lbs. (3.5L V-6 Lariat)
Fuel economy: EPA, 22 mpg city/24 highway/23 (Hybrid as tested)
Report card
Highs: Multi-tasking interior; an option for everyone
Lows: Won’t fit in your garage; gets pricey
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne