Ford Motor Company has announced that will roll out its new BlueCruise hands-free driving technology to 2021 Ford F-150 and 2021 Mustang Mach-E vehicles later this year. The Ford BlueCruise system will rival GM’s Super Cruise semi-autonomous driving system.
The Ford BlueCruise system rollout follows 500,000 miles of development testing, as well as a 110,000-mile “Mother of All Road Trips” test drive conducted across the U.S. and Canada last year. Ford’s so-called “Mother of All Road Trips” included 10 test vehicles, with five all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUVs and five F-150 pickup trucks, covering 37 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces. The test was intended to provide fine-tuning for the BlueCruise system with a range of road, traffic, and weather conditions.
“There are highway intricacies and driving conditions that you simply cannot replicate in a lab,” said Ford chief product platform and operations officer, Hau Thai-Tang. “Sending these vehicles out for real-world driving experience is just one of many ways we ensured that BlueCruise technology offers confidence and convenience for drivers all across the continent.”
Now, F-150 and Mustang Mach-E customers can expect BlueCruise to arrive later this year via over-the-air software updates. Vehicles must be equipped with the optional Ford Co-Pilot360 Active 2.0 Prep Package in order to receive the BlueCruise update. Vehicles cannot be retrofitted with the hardware required to run the BlueCruise system.
The system incorporates camera and radar-sensing technologies, and enables the driver to remove their hands from the steering wheel on pre-determined divided highways, which Ford has labeled as “Hands-Free Blue Zones.” Ford says that there are more than 100,000 miles of Hands-Free Blue Zones across North America. The system also incorporates a driver-facing camera to ensure the human pilot remains attentive.
2021 Cadillac Escalade with Super Cruise engaged
Meanwhile, General Motors currently offers the GM Super Cruise system on the Cadillac CT5, Cadillac CT4, all-new 2021 Cadillac Escalade SUV, and all-new 2022 Chevy Bolt EUV, with plans to expand the system to 22 GM vehicles by 2023. The Super Cruise system debuted with the now-discontinued Cadillac CT6. Like BlueCruise, Super Cruise allows the driver to remove their hands from the steering wheel during highway driving. The Super Cruise system is available to be engaged on 200,000 miles of highway throughout the U.S. and Canada following an update in June of 2019.
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Comments
Usually if the comments are popping this isn’t a good thing for GM. But with Bidens Infrastructure plan, I imagine Both GM/Fords autopilot capabilities will be hampered with parts of the highways they scanned that are now in deep construction. You can’t tell me a pair of Lidar sensors can steer a truck in construction zones, especially when the lane dividers are poorly scrubbed off and the lanes are no longer along those lines, with the makeshift lane divider bubbles etc.
If I am mistaken, I believe Tesla’s autopilot system is reactive not premapped. The way GM/Ford make it sound is that they just scanned the roads and depend on GPS positioning to create lanes and make it driverless. And slap on lane departure avoidance systems + radar cruising + premapped data.
Well, the GM Supercruise system has not killed any driver.
Tesla’s system did! LOTS!
gm sat on Supercruise for 5 years not offering it on anything but CT6. Now Ford comes out with Bluecruise for F-150 and Mach E once again spanking GM’s ass. GM was forced by Ford to spread Supercruise to other vehicles including Silverado. Love it when gm comes out with game changing tech then sits on it because their to damn cheap to offer it
Shareholders come first, not greedy customers who want freebies.
Nowhere can i find how much of that 100,000 miles will be in canada. Even ford canada wont tell me……..
Something about automated Mustangs and crowds makes me nervous..
Failed Operations Research Division….
FORD ALWAYS FOLLOWS GM, BUT I GARANTEE YOU IT WILL NOT BE AS GOOD AS GM’S.