Interest in Ford’s BlueCruise, and luxury counterpart Lincoln’s ActiveGlide, has encouraged the automaker to improve its hands-free technology offering that will be available on 2023 model vehicles. Thus far, more than 75,000 Ford and Lincoln owners have accrued greater than 16 million miles utilizing the hands-free function through August of this year.
With more than 130,000 miles of US roads now equipped with Hands-Free Blue Zone technology, which alerts appropriately equipped vehicles of its presence, Ford is fine tuning its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) by introducing the following features:
• Lane Change Assist: when desired, the driver taps the turn signal, the system is activated and will then accomplish a hands-free lane change. Additionally, this same system can recognize when traffic is getting bogged down and then suggest that a lane change might be advantageous.
• Predictive Speed Assist: when approaching a conspicuous curve in the road, the system will alert the driver and then modify the vehicle speed to get around the bend safely and effortlessly.
• In-Lane Repositioning: in an effort to simulate a more familiar driving experience, the system will gently allow the vehicle to hold its lane, while carefully adjusting speed and position, mindful of other vehicles in nearby lanes. This feature is especially valuable when adjacent to semi-trucks or other perceptibly large vehicles.
“We are investing in our ADAS team to constantly improve BlueCruise and ActiveGlide for our customers,” said Doug Field, Chief EV & Digital Systems Officer, Ford Model e. “The latest improvements allow customers to command lane changes using just a turn signal, and make hands-free driving feel more human-like by smoothly slowing down for turns and giving more room to large vehicles in neighboring lanes. These improvements are just the beginning of a constant journey toward improving safety and, in the future, giving customers valuable time back.”
The upgraded system will be equipped on vehicles arriving from the factory shortly, starting with the all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E.
