Ford and Argo AI have been developing and testing autonomous vehicle hardware for years now in a number of cities across the globe as both work to make self-driving automobiles a reality. Those efforts have come a long way, to the point where Argo AI recently went driverless in its autonomous vehicles operating in the cities of Austin, Texas, and Miami, Florida. Now, sources familiar with the matter have told Ford Authority that FoMoCo is using an F-150 Raptor to test a full autonomous vehicle hardware suite, too.
That special F-150 Raptor is a current, third-gen model equipped with Lidar and roof-mounted cameras, and is possibly testing a more advanced version of Ford’s existing BlueCruise hands-free driving feature. This is particularly notable because as Ford Authority reported back in January, the Ford F-150 Raptor will not be available with BlueCruise, as FoMoCo was apparently unable to make that feature work on the rugged off-road pickup due to software issues.
It’s entirely possible that this special F-150 Raptor is being used to develop a more advanced version of BlueCruise that could potentially work on the high-performance pickup, but it certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen a Blue Oval model driving around equipped with similar hardware.
In recent months, Ford Authority spies have spotted a number of different models driving around with that same kind of equipment attached, including a pair of Ford Super Duty SuperCrew trucks seen near Ford’s Dearborn Development Center equipped with an array of sensors and cameras. A couple of months later, those same spies also came across an A/V-equipped Ford Edge ST out testing, as well as a Lincoln Aviator driving around with the same sort of gear onboard.
We’ll have more on this autonomous hardware-equipped F-150 Raptor soon, so be sure to subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford F-150 news, Ford F-150 Raptor news, and continuous Ford news coverage.
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