Ford Aims to Turn Dashboards into Desks

A new Ford patent application for a desk integrated into a dashboard has surfaced.

The patent application, published March 19 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) but filed by Ford on July 25, 2022, incorporates into the dashboard to create a pop-out work space while maintaining interior space when the desk is not in use It discusses a foldable panel and track arrangement.

According to the patent application, the desk panel and its track conform to the shape of the dashboard so that the designer does not have to create a purely right-angle dash. Ford considered ways to integrate the desk into the left, right, or center of the dashboard.

One proposed configuration folds down the steering wheel and places the desk just in front of the instrument cluster. This application also shows a version in which the desk is deployed from the center console, with legs to stabilize the desk. [The desk can also be deployed from the passenger side of the dashboard and could be in a wrap-around shape with a second element that folds down to cover the center console area, providing more work space for the passenger.

This is not the first time Ford has attempted to patent a dashboard desk; another patent application, published in 2023, discussed a simpler version that hinges down from the passenger side of the dashboard. So it remains to be seen if future Fords will include this feature, but automakers appear to be interested in it.