The $30,000 Ford EV Pickup We Photographed Was Hiding A QR Code On Its Camouflage. Here’s Where It Takes You

You may recall that on Tuesday The Autopian became the first publication to get photos of a prototype Ford Universal EV pickup truck — a highly anticipated, $30,000-ish electruck from The Blue Oval. A reader noticed that the camouflage wrapped around the truck contained a QR code. I wonder where that goes? Let’s find out!

Shoutout to reader Matt, who noticed the QR codes slathered along the body — QR codes that are quite small and drowned out by fun dogs and soccer balls and sailboats and hearts and painters trays and anvils.

Here are a few photos that show the camo up close:

It’s kind of amazing for all of the work we did to start at that camo that we never noticed. Anyway, I figured I’d tell you all where these little QR codes actually go, and it’s right here. Here’s the URL, by the way; it contains the word “camo” and”spot[ted]” twice: https://www.ford.com/spotted/?fcid=qrc-camo-lifestyle&qrcid=qrc=camo-lifestyle-fv-spot

Hot dog! We have new footage of the prototype EV ute testing on the track! Before we get to that, let’s click that video at the top. The clip is a little intro from Alan Clarke, Vice President, Advanced Development Projects. He runs Ford’s Long Beach EVDC (Electric Vehicle Development Center):

“Welcome, chances are you saw something on the road that piqued your interest and you’re here because you’re curious,” Clarke begins. “You’re just like us — really interested in new technology, innovation, and something pretty unique and interesting you saw on the road.”

Clarke continues:

“This website will be your exclusive window into our progress — a place where we show you how we’re doing things differently as our team develops an electric vehicle that’s accessible and exciting, one innovation at a time. So come on back sometime soon and take a look at the different things that this team across the world is doing to make sure that this product is ready for market in 2027.”

Down below the video are two others, one showing the prototype being assembled by an employee named Mark Gentry who, in Ford’s New Model Program Development Center, marvels at just how easy it is to put this new EV truck together. In the screenshots below you can see the cast aluminum instrument panel being married (via adhesive and threaded fasteners) to the stamped steel chassis:

The third video you see when you follow the camo prototype’s QR code shows Ford test engineer Chris Kirkland snow-drifting the EV truck in Michigan’s upper peninsula. The footage actually shows some interesting details not obvious on the prototype The Autopian photographed on Tuesday in Long Beach. One such detail is the wheels, which are exposed here:

Another detail is the nose, which on the prototype I saw on Tuesday was covered in some kind of bulky black mass. Here, the nose looks more like the aerodynamic shape you’d expect this truck to have based on the aerodynamic imagery Ford has shown (like the one below):

Check out that tapered hood (and also look at the truck drift with its front wheels at opposite-lock and its rears kicking up snow; looks fun!):

By contrast, here’s what I saw on Tuesday:

Anyway, I just thought I’d show you all what’s on the test mule’s QR code hidden in the camo. Looks like Ford will be updating that site regularly as the EV pickup/ute gets closer to its 2027 launch.

All screenshots Ford unless otherwise stated