According to Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company is only two years away from providing technology that will allow individuals to get their hands off the roller and their eyes off the road.
” We’re getting actually close”, Farley said in a May 31 meeting with Bloomberg TV’s David Westin. With a design, we can do it fairly frequently, but making it cost-effective is the only thing we need to accomplish.
Farley thinks Ford will be able to move fast enough to start offering the element in 2026, making it the first mass-market car brand to give Level 3 autonomy, as predicted by auto engineers. Under certain circumstances, the vehicle takes over the driving process, allowing the driver to concentrate on other things.
In a few years, “level 3 freedom will allow you to get hands and eyes off the road on the highway,” according to Farley. You may hold a conference phone and do a lot of other things.
Ford and other manufacturers, including General Motors Co., now offer hands-free traveling features, but those that use vision tracking devices to keep the driver on the road ahead, such as General Motors Co. Ford’s technique, called BlueCruise, is currently under investigation by US health authorities after being involved in dangerous accidents. Federal officials are also looking into Tesla Inc. and others for accidents involving their semi-autonomous systems.
Farley’s forecast comes less than two decades after Ford shut down its autonomous online, Argo AI, because it argued that achieving full self-drive was very remote.
Late last month, Mercedes-Benz introduced an eyes-off-the-road element in the US, but it only runs at speeds below 40 mph on pre-approved roadways.
Farley suggested Ford’s method could travel on the highway at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour, but only when the weather is clear.
” We just think we can do it on beautiful time”, Farley said. At 80 miles per hour, it is difficult to do it due to heavy weather and other factors.
Ford is eager to offer its drivers license services to features like BlueCruise in an effort to earn recurring income. Farley observes high-margin technology companies easing the boom-and-bust cycles in the car industry.
Ford now offers software to its business customers to manage their fleet logistics. Farley uses semi-autonomous functions like eyes-off-the-road driving to persuade retail customers to purchase software subscriptions.
” BlueCruise has been so much more common than we expected, which is arms free”, Farley said. It’s kind of the first stage before you realize you’re about to lose your sight.
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