Though Ford gave up on the commercial autonomous vehicle technology company Argo AI some time ago, it wound up creating one of its own shortly thereafter – Latitude AI, which has since been focusing on Level 3 autonomy, rather than Level 4 and 5, which the automaker doesn’t see as a profitable venture in the short term. Now, it seems as if Ford has indeed achieved Level 3 autonomy, even though it won’t be available in the vehicles it sells to customers – at least, not yet.
“We’re getting really close,” Ford CEO Farley told Bloomberg in a recent interview. “We can do it now pretty regularly with a prototype, but doing it in a cost-effective way is just the progress we’re going to need to make. Level 3 autonomy will allow you to go hands and eyes off the road on the highway in a couple years so then your car becomes like an office. You could do a conference call and all sorts of stuff.”
Farley added that he believes Ford could offer Level 3 autonomy to customers as early as 2026, making it the very first mass market automaker to do so. Currently, BlueCruise – and GM’s Supercruise – use eye tracking devices to ensure that drivers are looking ahead, while Tesla’s Autopilot asks drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, though The Blue Oval is also facing an investigation from the NHTSA following a pair of recent fatal crashes. Regardless, it seems like Ford still has some details to work out before Level 3 becomes viable, too.
“We only think we can do it on sunny days,” Farley said of Ford’s Level 3 tech. “Heavy rain and stuff makes it difficult to do it at 80 miles an hour.” However, on the same token, he also recognized the potential such a system would pose for both drivers and the company itself, financially speaking. “BlueCruise has been so much more popular than we expected, which is hands free. It’s kind of the step before you get to eyes off.”
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Comments
You are going down the interstate at 70 mph with your kids in the car and your semi-autonomous vehicle is commandeered by a cybercriminal demanding a ransom. Are you going to pay it? You have 30 seconds to decide.
You’re at a stop sign in your Mercedes convertible and someone crossing the street puts a gun to your head and tells you to get out of your car. Do you get out? These are stupid question David and have no bearing on the fact that Ford is advancing its technology. Keep up the good work Ford. I look forward to the advancement.
Just imagine how much more popular Blue Cruise would be if you actually supported it with regular updates?
Oh and did I tell you about the trailer routing feature on Sync that won’t give you any directions if it can’t find a trailer approved route for you? Apparently Ford thinks the safest thing to do is not tow your trailer. Such a helpful feature.
With software developers like this, Tesla has nothing to worry about.
Well, at least Ford’s system has not killed its passengers as Tesla’s did. I trust Ford more than any other brand to do this correctly.
One thing for certain, this vehicle, like most Ford vehicles, will be recalled soon after it goes on sale, usually, the recall will involve a feature that will make the vehicle unsafe to drive. Maybe Ralph Nader should publish a book about Ford’s endless recalls, the title of the book should be “Unsafe at any Speed, part 2.