[AutonomousVehicles] Ford Delays Blue Cruise System

[Cornelius Butler]

Hi Everyone,
Ford has delayed its BlueCruise system. The link and article text are below.

Article Link:
https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/28/22750476/ford-hands-free-bluecruise-2022-delay-adas-farley

Article Text:

Ford delays software updates for its ‘hands-free’ BlueCruise driver assist
feature until 2022
By Andrew J. Hawkins at andyjayhawk  Oct 28, 2021, 9:21am EDT

BlueCruise, the “hands-free” driver assist feature that Ford sees as a
viable competitor to GM’s Super Cruise and Tesla’s Autopilot, won’t receive
any over-the-air software updates until the first quarter of 2022, the
company’s executives said Wednesday night. The automaker had originally
planned on pushing its first OTA software updates for select Ford customers
before the end of 2021.

In an earnings call with investors, Ford CEO Jim Farley said the company’s
engineers needed a little more time to make the advanced driver assistance
system (ADAS) easier to use for customers.

“We wanted to improve the customer experience,” Farley said. “So we pushed
it back in terms of an OTA because we want it to be much simpler for the
customer than was originally planned. And that takes a little planning to
consolidate. Often these Level 2 systems require multiple updates to the
car. We want it to be very simple. That took a little bit more work on our
team’s part.”

Level 2 systems, as defined by the Society for Automotive Engineers’ levels
of automation, work in concert with a number of distinct features, like
adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist,
blindspot detection, pedestrian monitoring, and stop sign detection. These
systems do not make the vehicle autonomous, as drivers are required to stay
vigilant and keep their eyes on the road.

Ford also included an active driver monitoring system in the form of an
infrared sensor on the steering column that tracks the driver’s eyes to
make sure they are keeping them on the road. In that way, drivers can
technically take their hands off the wheel on “prequalified sections of
divided highways” that Ford has mapped.

Ford said that it was currently shipping 2021 F-150 pickup trucks and 2021
Mustang Mach-E SUVs to customers with BlueCruise functionality, but that
the system would not be ready for its first OTA updates until next year.

“Given the importance of this technology upgrade, we’ve retimed the
BlueCruise over-the-air update so we can deliver the highest-quality
experience possible for customers,” a spokesperson said.

Ford has said it expects to sell more than 100,000 vehicles equipped with
BlueCruise in the first year, based on company sales and take-rate
projections.

Car consumers are certainly attracted to more high-tech systems, especially
if they can promise a safer, more stress-free driving experience. A survey
conducted by Edmunds in late 2017 found that 58 percent of car shoppers
would pay an extra $1,000 or more for a vehicle equipped with active safety
features.

The ADAS has grown highly competitive in the auto industry, as automakers
seek to roll out more advanced systems to customers. GM recently announced
a new version of Super Cruise called “Ultra Cruise,” that — when it ships
in 2023 — will cover “95 percent” of all driving scenarios. Meanwhile,
Tesla is pushing its “Full Self-Driving” beta software on more and more
customers, despite warnings from government regulators that the system is
being deceptively marketed as a fully autonomous system.

Correction October 28th, 5:05PM ET: Ford is delaying over-the-air software
updates for BlueCruise until 2022, not BlueCruise itself. A previous
version of this story was incorrect.
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