September 15, 2026 - Ford Adds Hands-Free Towing to 2027 F-150

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for September 15, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry. 

The 2027 Ford F-150 is getting another mid-cycle refresh this fall. Visually, the only noteworthy changes on the existing trim levels are some revised grilles and wheels. Unless someone is particularly pedantic about picking out their F-150 variations, they almost certainly won't notice the changes. The base 2.7-liter V6 in the F-150 is also being replaced with a larger 3.0-liter version. The bigger engine actually produces the same 325 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque, but the torque peak now arrives at 2,250 rpm rather than the 3,500 rpm of the smaller engine, making it better suited to a large truck. 

As Ford did earlier this year with the Super Duty F-Series trucks, the F-150 is now offered in a Carhartt edition as part of the automaker's partnership with the Detroit-based manufacturer of rugged clothing. That means some exterior graphics and badging, unique wheels, and a special interior with fabrics inspired by the texture and colors of Carhartt clothes. 

The most noteworthy technical change for the 2027 F-150 is an updated version of the BlueCruise hands-free driving assist. It's still based on V1.4 of BlueCruise, which means it doesn't have the automatic lane changing of V1.5, but it now supports use while towing a trailer. There are no hardware changes, just updates to the software. Drivers will need to set up a profile for each trailer with information like length and width. The system will dynamically estimate the trailer weight when the truck is moving and adjust parameters like following distances. The camera will look for indications of construction zones and ask the driver to take the wheel. The trailer sway control is also upgraded, and if sway is detected, it will automatically slow the vehicle, and if it persists, hands-free operation may be disabled until the next ignition cycle. Ford did much of the early development and validation of the system on its dynamic driving simulator in Dearborn, along with tens of thousands of miles of testing on roads all around the country. On the simulator, Ford has more than 800 different scenarios of trailers, roads, and weather conditions. The 2027 F-150 will be available later this year. 

Finally, in order to address the affordability challenge as trucks have been more expensive, Ford has done some selective decontenting on two of its most popular off-road variants, the Tremor and Raptor. By starting the Tremor on the STX trim, Ford has reduced the base price by $5,300, and the Raptor now starts at $4,000 less. 

Thanks for listening.