The race is on to make truly self-driving vehicles. A few years ago, it looked like Tesla had an insurmountable lead, but first Mercedes and now Ford has come from behind with a firm timeline. Ford CEO Jim Farley claims the company’s enhanced BlueCruise feature will offer Level 3 autonomy in 2026 vehicles. However, there are some caveats.
Farley’s pronouncement came during a recent interview with Bloomberg. He says the company has been working to test its improved self-driving technology and is seeing good progress. “We can do it now pretty regularly with a prototype, but doing it cost-effectively is just the progress we’re going to need to make,” said Farley.
Moving to SAE Level 3 would be a big step for Ford. The company’s current BlueCruise system is a robust Level 2 system, meaning it can handle most driving tasks on the highway. Drivers can take their hands off the wheel and dig around in the glovebox or check their phones, but only briefly. When the system detects you are not watching the road for longer than a few seconds, you’ll get a warning tone, and the system will eventually deactivate. At Level 3 autonomy, the driver no longer needs to be engaged with the driving experience. If you want to take a meeting or nap, the car will let you do that.
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