- CEO Jim Farley says that Level 3 Autonomous driving is coming to Ford products in “a couple years.”
- The team is already successfully testing the technology on prototypes with high rates of success.
- It appears as though users will only be able to employ the tech in good conditions.
Believe it or not, not everyone loves driving. If possible, many would prefer a chauffeur—and now, we’re nearing technology that mimics that experience. Level 3 autonomous driving technology is partially available but could soon go mainstream. According to Ford, it will be accessible to customers within a few years.
Jim Farley, Ford’s CEO, knows that many people want to do as little driving as they have to. In fact, the numbers back that up. “BlueCruise has been so much more popular than we expected, which is hands-free,” Farley said. “It’s kind of the step before you get to eyes off.” That ‘eyes off’ tech he’s talking about is Level 3 Autonomy.
Read: Tesla Must Face False-Advertising Claims Over Full Self-Driving Claims In California, Judge Rules
It enables the vehicle to do the driving to the degree that the person in the driver’s seat does not need to constantly monitor the system, though their attention may still be required. It’s the sort of thing that Elon Musk of Tesla has promised for years and the thing Mercedes Benz already offers. If Farley is right about his timing, Ford might walk around Tesla and beat it on the big end.
“We’re getting really close,” Farley said in a May 31 interview with Bloomberg TV’s David Westin. “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,” he continued.
Of course, this bleeding edge of technology isn’t going to overtake the road overnight. Even when it goes live, Farley imagines it’ll only be available in very limited situations. “We only think we can do it on sunny days,” Farley said. “Heavy rain and stuff makes it difficult to do it at 80 miles an hour.”
So, unless you live in San Diego or Arizona, expect to have to use BlueCruise or something else on the regular. Oh and one more thing. Farley didn’t say anything about how much it’ll cost. If this doesn’t end up being one more subscription-based service we’ll be shocked.
