The new Ford F-150 Raptor is a seriously fun truck. Whether on-road or off, it’s capable, fun, and fast but according to a new report, it’ll never be as easy going on the highway as other Ford models. That all comes down to the way that the Raptor and the BlueCruise driver-assistance feature interact and it turns out that Ford can’t find a way to integrate the two.
This report which first popped up on FordAuthority says that sources familiar with the matter have confirmed to them that Ford has decided to exclude the F-150 Raptor from getting BlueCruise when it arrives for other models later this year. This isn’t like other issues in the auto industry, for instance GM building some cars without certain features because of the chip shortage.
Instead, this is a specific decision to not activate BlueCruise on the F-150 Raptor including vehicles that have the associated hardware prep kit package already installed. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that Ford is compensating Raptor owners by reimbursing them the full cost of that hardware prep kit. For 2021 model year owners that’s $795 per truck and $1,395 for those who bought the 2022 version.
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There’s no specific word on what it was or is that made integration between the BlueCruise system and the Raptor incompatible. Perhaps it had something to do with the ultra-wide track and body of the truck or the off-road sensors that are unique to the Raptor, but that’s purely conjecture. In any case, Ford is allegedly having 2021 and 2022 F-150 Raptor owners sign a waiver acknowledging that they know it won’t work and that they’re not being charged for the feature or associated parts.
Have you ordered or been thinking about ordering an F-150 Raptor with BlueCruise? How does this affect your view of the truck? While we can’t imagine it’s a deal-breaker for most, it does seem like a desirable feature that we’d want on such a top-of-the-line pickup.
We’ve reached out to Ford to clarify the questions we have and will update this post when we hear from them.