Ford launches hands-free driving on Britain’s highways
A few weeks ago, Ford presented the first car with a self-driving system on a highway in Europe, thanks to a feature that may soon be available in this continent, allowing it to travel at a speed of one hundred kilometers per hour without the need for the driver to hold the wheel.
Taking the M11 motorway north of London, the small four-wheel drive suggests the driver take their hands off the wheel, cruises to speeds of up to 100km/h, brakes automatically as a lorry approaches, and then quietly resumes in the center of the lane.
The driver’s hands are free, but he cannot use the mobile phone, as his eyes must remain fixed on the road. In the car, cameras and infrared sensors are installed, capable of penetrating even sun glasses.
If the driver loses sight for more than ten seconds, the car’s computer scolds him, saying, “Look at the road and take back control. The car then applies the brakes.
Ford activated the “BlockCruz” feature in the United Kingdom in April 2023 on its most popular electric car, the Mustang Mach-E.
This feature, which saw its inception in the United States in 2021, allows hands-free driving on the UK’s 6,000 km of highways called “blue zones” and featuring 4 lanes and barriers separating the two lanes in the middle, from Dover to Scotland.
500 people have tested this feature so far and then have to pay 17.99 pounds (about $ 21) a month to fully adopt it.
In the United States, this feature is available on the F-150 pickup truck or the Ford Expedition large SUV. This feature is used by 200,000 drivers without any accidents being recorded, according to the company. Ford’s rival General Motors offers the same advantage.
Automakers are engaged in a reputation war over the self-driving system that is emblematic of the future of the sector. Mercedes allows driving without holding the steering wheel on German motorways, but only in traffic jams, up to a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. Tesla owner Elon Musk has long promised that fully autonomous driving, called Level 4, will be available soon.
Ford, for its part, is counting on immediate applications, and in 2022 it ended a research partnership on self-driving that it established with the emerging company, Argo AI.
“We are optimistic about the future of the fourth level, but we are still far from seeing fully autonomous cars produced in large numbers and ensuring profitability,” said Jim Farley, general manager of the giant American company, at the end of 2022. He added, “Things have changed and there is a huge opportunity available from now on for Ford to give people time in their cars.”
The American company was the first in the United Kingdom to beneficiary of an exemption that allows it to suggest driving without putting hands on the steering wheel, stresses Daweh Cunningham, a Ford official.
He is currently negotiating with the British authorities to move to the next stage, which is to allow cars to change lanes to overtake another vehicle with the use of a signal.
But what is the use of this feature when it is not allowed to use the phone or read a book, for example?
“It’s an evolution, not a revolution,” says Dawe Cunningham, who considers this improved cruise control a further step toward Level 3 autonomy that will allow driving to be handed over to a computer in most cases.
“This allows the driver to relax, especially in traffic jams, and let the car take over,” Tariq Willis, Ford’s marketing expert, confirms.
The BlueCruz feature will be available “soon” in Germany and then France, according to Cunningham.
2023-07-23 17:52:00
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