Stellantis patents retractable tailgate aspect step

Stellantis has filed a patent software for a retractable tailgate aspect step to make accessing the beds of pickup vans simpler.

Filed with the USA Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO), the appliance reveals a mechanism that slides out and down from the tailgate. When deployed, it hangs down simply forward of the rear bumper on one aspect of the tailgate. An hooked up step can be utilized to get to the mattress.

As Stellantis notes within the software, the elevated peak of pickup beds makes getting stuff out and in of them tough, which is the place a step would possibly come in useful. As a result of it is constructed into the tailgate, this aspect step is much less cumbersome and complex to make use of than a standalone ladder, the automaker notes within the software.

Stellantis is not the primary automaker to give you this concept, nonetheless. Ford has provided retractable steps on its F-Sequence pickups for a while, though they deploy from the again of an open tailgate, not the perimeters. Basic Motors provides an easier resolution within the type of molded-in steps on the rear-bumper sides of its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra vans, with a extra elaborate model as a part of Chevy’s Multi-Flex and GMC’s MultiPro tailgates.

Rivian earlier this yr filed a patent software for a tailgate step of its personal. The EV truck maker’s design has the middle part of the tailgate drop all the way down to create a step. Rivian hasn’t mentioned plans for a manufacturing model, nonetheless.

Stellantis’ Ram division presently lacks an equal characteristic, so maybe that is how the automaker plans to realize parity with its Detroit rivals (and probably Rivian) within the tailgate-step class. As with all patent purposes, nonetheless, Stellantis hasn’t confirmed plans to supply the tailgate aspect step on a manufacturing automobile. It might simply need to reserve the idea for potential future use.