Take your hands off the steering wheel on the way to the office and let the car take over? This will soon be possible for Ford drivers. But industry experts see problems compared to the competition.
Ford is now also allowed to sell cars in Germany with a function for semi-autonomous driving, which allows drivers to take their hands off the handlebars on certain sections of the motorway. The company announced in Cologne that the Federal Motor Transport Authority had approved the so-called Blue Cruise technology.
“Data collected worldwide from more than a million test kilometers formed the basis for successful approval in Germany,” says Ford manager Torsten Wey.
With “Blue Cruise”, drivers must continue to keep an eye on the traffic: if they fall asleep or surf the Internet on their smartphone, an infrared camera detects this and a warning tone sounds. It’s getting louder. If the driver still doesn’t react, the car slows down a bit. Initially, the Blue Cruise function will only be available in the Mustang Mach-E electric sports car, but customers will be able to place orders for it in a few weeks.
In the USA and Canada, 194,000 Ford and Lincoln vehicles have already covered a total of 175 million kilometers in Blue Cruise mode. According to Ford, users reach their destination in a more relaxed manner.
Industry experts reacted cautiously to the announcement. “For Ford, this is a small step forward, but the competition is already ahead,” says Ferdinand Dudenhöffer from the Duisburg Center Automotive Research (CAR). While you still have to follow the traffic closely with the Ford function, this is no longer necessary with a Mercedes function, for example, says the industry expert. The central question is what the feature will cost at Ford. “If the price is too high, there will be little response because it brings little relief for the driver.”
Source: Stern
