The unbearable lightness of trucks

It’s a big deal. It’s been the bestselling truck in Canada for more than 40 years, bringing in over 40 per cent of the company’s Canadian sales volume, and it accounts for about $30 billion in annual corporate worldwide revenue. It’s the Ford F-150. And it’s changing, big time.

Ford announced during last month’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit that henceforward the F-150 will be recast with a body of aluminum rather than of steel. It will make the truck about 318 kilograms lighter, and thereby help Ford meet new fuel economy standards, which require a doubling of 2011 levels by 2025.

And it’s not just me saying it’s a big deal. “This is a big deal,” says automotive consultant Dick Schulz. “They [Ford] think that this solidifies the position of that truck for the next 30 years.” Another author writes that Ford is “bidding to set a new standard that will keep its vehicle [the F-150] at the forefront of the competition for one of the most profitable segments of the vehicle market.”

So my question—aside from the cynic’s obvious “what took you so long?”—is “what’s the competition going to do?” And to find that out, I took a little excursion down Google Lane.

Ford’s biggest competitors are obviously GM and Chrysler, so I checked in with them first. And wouldn’t you know it, each has a unique and first-off-the-mark solution designed to outfox Ford.

It turns out that GM is about to take the wraps off a truck whose body will be made entirely of balsa wood. “It’s about 25 per cent lighter than the new F-150, and it won’t rust. In fact, it’s so light you can pick it up with your hands and throw it somewhere, like one of those model gliders. We’re still ironing out the kinks in fire retardation, but once we have those licked, it’s curtains for Ford.”

Chrysler is equally upbeat. Its solution is to go with styrofoam—a material that is more that 30 per cent lighter than aluminum. Chrysler is optimistic it will cut down on the cost of repairs by making the truck’s body out of recycled material that can withstand minor collisions—and keep costs down. “Just think of all those computers and flat screen TVs that come with that protective styrofoam that you just throw out once you open the box,” said a Chrysler representative. “With the money you save, you can even cover your truck with bubble wrap, so that if you hit something, or something hits you, you don’t lose a chunk of styrofoam: you just pop a bubble.” (Organizers of the forth- coming Wellington bubble festival were keen to speak to Chrysler about a marketing tie in; but contact had yet to be made at press time.)

And how are the Japanese responding? It’s not clear yet, but one rumour has it that Toyota is looking at an extruded material similar to Play-Doh. It makes some sense: Play-Doh is non-toxic, non-staining and reusable; so that if you dinged up your truck, or even got tired of the body design, you could recast it, and while you were at it, change the colour and the shape from, say a Gumby to a Pokey. This option, while it may not work well in rainstorms, is sure to appeal to the artistic instincts of pickup truck owners.

Speaking of artistic instincts, another rumour has the European industry looking very closely at plastic bodied vehicles; and specifically, Lego bricks. Again, this makes some sense. Aside from checking the same creative box as Play-Doh and meeting Ford’s lightness standards kilogram for kilogram, it also offers unique savings in accident repair costs: one smash, and the blocks will tend to fly apart with only the block at the point of contact posing any real risk of damage. Besides, customization—a popular feature with pickup truck owners—would be a piece of cake with a Lego-based body.

All seriousness aside, I asked almighty Google whether I could build a truck using one of those new 3-D printers that are supposed to be revolutionizing the world in about the second quarter of 2015. Sure enough, I’m too late: it’s already happened. Scientific American reports that a company called Local Motors has opened factories in Phoenix and Las Vegas and produced a “street-legal off-road vehicle called the Rally Fighter; a motorcycle called the Racer; and its newest product, the Cruiser, a vintage-style motor-powered bicycle.” It’s working on printing up an electric car for Las Vegas users.

According to Scientific American, “the revolutionary model behind Local Motors is that it can build specialized products in low volumes by employing innovative design and building techniques. By using 3-D printing to help realize crowdsourced designs, made entirely by an online community of nearly 60,000 users from more than 130 countries, Local Motors can make products perfectly suited to local needs.”

So there you go, Mr. Ford. Print me up a truck. Forget about good old haulage and towing capacity. I’ll have one with an aluminum hood and a Lego flatbed, please. Crowdsourced, with fries. And a can of pop, to match the hood.

dsimmonds@wellingtontimes.ca