Years ago I heard that the Mustang was going to become an SUV. I thought that was as crazy as a rear-engined Corvette, but apparently, that happened as well. Now there is another gadget that Mustangs are to receive and it has to do with the new self-driving technology. Imagine that – an optional chauffeur in your new Mustang!
Ford has already started the driver-assist trend with a slew of automated systems referred to as Co-Pilot360. BLIS, Lane-changing, pre-collision, adaptive cruise control, and more have been used in Ford vehicles for some time now, and the new advancement of this system is being released to the public in the form of BlueCruise.
Come Again?
According to Ford, “It allows the driver to operate their vehicle hands-free while being monitored by a driver-facing camera to make sure you have your eyes on the road..”. The idea of having a car drive for you has long been a dream sequence in some sci-fi movie, but Ford seem to think they have this ability in hand. So far there has been a lot of positive feedback from other companies such as Tesla and Audi, so hopefully, Ford will be following suit.
Where?
They go on to say that this feature “is compatible on pre-qualified sections of divided highways called [Hands-Free Blue Zones] that make up 100,000 miles of North American roads”. Now considering there are some 2,678,000 miles of paved roads in the United States, the idea of 100,000 miles seems rather small potatoes in comparison. However, this is just the first big step in the driverless pond and Ford seems to be ready to get this underway as early as the end of 2021.
Personally, for the time being, I’ll keep hold of the steering wheel.
