Most Innovative Truck of the Year: 2018 Ford F-150

Make no mistake — pickup trucks are the most hotly contested vehicle segment in the United States, and it's been this way for decades. For the past 35 years, the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. has been the Ford F-Series pickup truck. In second and third and fourth places are other full-size pickups. Clearly, pickups are a juggernaut. Manufacturers bring their A-games to this segment.

For the F-150, maintaining its top sales position has meant constantly questioning the status quo. As a result, the 2018 Ford F-150 boasts a laundry list of innovations that would have been unthinkable less than a decade ago. Its aluminum-intensive construction and powerful turbocharged engines only scratch the surface of the changes that make the F-150 the Edmunds CES Tech Driven Awards' Most Innovative Truck of the Year.

Many cars offer a blind-spot monitoring system, but the F-150's system takes that technology a step further by monitoring all the way back to the end of a 33-foot trailer behind the truck. Its tailgate can be deployed remotely via the key fob. Another feature called Pro Trailer Backup Assist partially automates the task of reversing a trailer. No other pickup truck offers any of these features.

The F-150's 10-speed automatic transmission is another first among pickups, and it's more than simply the next volley in an arms race of gear count. This transmission is backed by a sophisticated adaptive control algorithm that allows it to predict which gear to choose next based on driving history, and its hardware allows gears to be skipped if the driving circumstance warrants it. In practice it works seamlessly, giving the F-150 a wide gearing spread to ensure it has a gear for any occasion.

In addition, the F-150 has an extensive slate of driver assistance features, including a forward collision warning and mitigation system with pedestrian detection, full-speed range adaptive cruise and rear cross-traffic alert. Its Sync 3 infotainment system is near the top of the class for its speed, intuitive layout and crisp display. There's even an available Bang & Olufsen premium audio system and a Wi-Fi hotspot that can support 10 devices. Coupled with the F-150's refined noise attentuation and comfortable ride, the F-150 is a genuinely serene daily driver.

The F-150's broad cross-section of talents is what makes it the best pickup truck on sale today. Ford's willingness to continually challenge conventional thinking has been instrumental in not only staking out its perennial sales leadership but also redefining what a pickup truck can do.

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