The Ford F-250 Super Chief concept projects the next level of rugged elegance for full-size pickups, further stretching the world-famous F-Series lineup past the F-250 Super Crew and F-250 King Ranch. "Ford has been the truck leader for so long, no one can remember it being any other way," says J Mays, group vice president, Design, and chief creative officer.
Even more pronounced from the profile is the truck's substantial cabin. Based on an F-250 Super Duty with an 8-foot-long bed, F-250 Super Chief designers reallocated 2 feet of bed space for the passenger compartment, which is accessible through center-opening doors. "The F-250 Super Chief boldly restates our leadership with a quintessentially American truck." The F-250 Super Chief's locomotive-inspired front-end appearance sets the tone, complemented by its bold, imposing grille. The pattern of the headlamps echoes the motif of the interior's coffered ceiling, with five-element/four-emitter LEDs behind the optics. History
The tri-fuel flexibility is one possible innovation by Ford to help pave the way for hydrogen vehicles, as the nation's ethanol and hydrogen fueling infrastructure continues to develop. The concept truck and its name are inspired by the bold, American Super Chief trains of the nation's past. Super Chief is Ford's most advanced, well-appointed pickup ever – designed to build on the standard for interior excellence established by the new F-150. Super Chief features an interior paneled in American walnut, brushed aluminum and bold brown leather. Convenience features include bold light-emitting diode (LED) headlamps, a full glass roof and automated ottoman. The Ford F-250 Super Chief concept boldly foretells a new era for pickup trucks that Ford intends to lead with bold, American design and innovation – as it has for nearly three decades.
Running on hydrogen, the supercharged V-10 engine provides up to 12 percent fuel economy improvement on an energy equivalent basis versus a non-supercharged gasoline V-10 – and nearly 500 miles per fill-up. In addition, when operating on hydrogen, the Tri-Flex V-10 generates 99 percent less CO 2 emissions than when running on gasoline. "The Tri-Flex fuel engine encourages the development of the hydrogen fuel infrastructure for the best future mobility solution," says Dr. Gerhard Schmidt, vice president, Research and Advanced Engineering. "It also drives the expansion of the domestic ethanol E85 fuel production and availability and, of course, provides our customers the convenience of gasoline until these other fuels become more readily available." The Tri-Flex system leverages existing powertrain technologies in which Ford has long held leadership. Since 1996, Ford has led in production and sales of flex-fuel E85 ethanol/gasoline vehicles. Ford has built more than 1.6 million flex-fuel vehicles that operate on any mix of E85 and gasoline.