Would you work from a car office? Ford patent shows how it wants to turn dashboards into desk space

If you thought Ford’s decision to kill off the Fiesta last year was a bit bonkers, wait until you see two of its latest patent applications.

The US car maker has filed a design that would turn its vehicles’ dashboards into a ‘coffice’ [car office] with fold-out desks to allow owners to work from the driver’s seat.

And its technical team has even come up with an ingenious solution for vacant engine bays in its electric vehicles.

A separate patent shows drawings for an electric pick-up truck’s empty froot [front boot] to have TV mounted to the underside of the bonnet lid so that owners can watch their favourite shows and stream content while waiting for their EV to charge.

Would you work from a coffice? For busy people who like to work on the move, Ford might have a proposition in the pipeline that could solve a few problems…

The US car maker has filed these patent drawings in the US that suggest it wants to introduce cabins with desk space inside. While they will look like conventional vehicle dashboards, clever folding and sliding panels will provide lots of work space, including folding down the steering wheel to have a table in its place

Ford’s coffice patent was filed back in 2022 but has only recently been published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

As revealed by US car site Motor Authority, the diagrams submitted with the application shows a variety of adjustable panels that turn the interior into a flexible pop-up workspace.

Using sliding mechanisms and foldable sections, the worktops are built into the existing shape of the cabin and therefore do not add to the dashboard size when the car is being driven.

And the patent shows how Ford could make use of the entire cockpit to provide plenty of working provisions.

The application also shows an extending section from the centre console with a single table leg for stability when occupants are leaning on the worktop or placing heavy items on it

These designs show how the desk panel will extend from the dashboard and a fold-out leg can attach into a mount located in the centre console

The centre console desk also expands sideways to provide a small table top for both the driver and passenger

Passengers could also get a 90-degree, L-shaped desk. This is a combination of a fold down table top and a second extending section that sits above the centre console

The patent drawings show different sections in front of the driver’s seat, passenger seat and centre console.

The most notable of these is a configuration that would allow the steering wheel to fold to face down, revealing a flat desk surface for the driver to place a laptop, tablet or fill out their paperwork. 

The application also shows an extending section from the centre console with a single table leg for stability when occupants are leaning on the worktop or placing heavy items on it.

On the passenger side, another extending section would create an L-shaped corner desk, with additional support from two table legs that also secure to the centre console.

And this isn’t the first time Ford has flirted with the idea of turning its vehicle cabins into functional spaces.  

Back in September 2022, Ford unveiled its battery-powered E-Transit Custom. And it had one very interesting option pack…

The Mobile Office pack allows for the steering wheel to tilt into a horizontal position (right) and a plastic panel clipped inside creates a small desk for holding a laptop or – more likely – a packed lunch while the driver takes a well-earned break

There is also an attachment to support a laptop on the steering wheel when you want to catch up on emails while on the job

Its new E-Transit – the battery-powered version of its famous van, which starts from just over £46,000 without VAT – already has a ‘Mobile Office’ option pack, which includes a tilting steering wheel.

When parked up, the wheel rim can be swivelled into a horizontal position and a plastic panel clips inside it to create a small desk for holding a laptop or – more likely – a packed lunch while the driver takes a well-earned break.

The pack also includes dimmable LED lighting to illuminate the tilted steering wheel area, an additional dome light in the roof and storage between the seats for paperwork and devices, such as tablets.

Bored waiting for your EV to charge? Ford’s solution

If turning a car dashboard into a desk space wasn’t enough outside-the-box thinking for you, how about this next Ford patent.

Motor Authority also leaked design drawings submitted by the giant auto firm that shows how its next-generation EVs might make use of vacant engine bays.

With most electric models now having their battery packs built into the floor of the chassis – both for weight distribution and capacity benefits – the engine bay has become nothing more than a structural crumple zone to protect occupants.

Rather than being completely redundant, most brands now provide additional luggage space up front where a petrol or diesel powerplant used to be. 

But Ford thinks it could become an ideal entertainment centre for owners who need to pass the time while their EV is charging.

The patent, also shared by Top Gear, shows a huge screen fitted to the underside of the bonnet lid of an electric F-150 Lightning truck.

More patent sketches submitted by Ford show an electric F-150 Lightning with a TV screen mounted on the underside of the ‘froot’ lid

Electric cars make use of the empty section that was once the engine bay in a conventional petrol or diesel vehicle and often turn it into extra luggage space. But Ford’s patent suggests it could become an entertaining space while owners wait for their EVs to charge

The patents also propose turning the front of the electric pick-up into a construction worker’s tool station, with a fold-out worktop, cup holders and electricity supply for powertools and storage wall for utensils

Ford also hints at the front boot being used as even more coffice space, with on-the-move business men and women able to power their laptop, have a cupholder for their coffee and use an extending desk

The F-150 Lightning, which is already on sale in the US, is shown here being used as a supplementary power source on a construction site

Further drawings also show how the froot could double as more coffice space with a standing desks that deploy from the secondary luggage area and plug to charge a laptop.

And it could even become a construction worker’s tool station, with a socket for powertools, cupholders and a hanging panel for utensils such as tape measures and hammers.

Whether this mad-hat concepts make production is a totally different question, though if Ford’s decision to discontinue its best-selling model – and soon cull the Focus family hatchback at the end of 2025 – is anything to go by, we wouldn’t put these ideas past them.