Ford extends ADAS hands free driving for Ford Mustang Mach-E this fall

Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles will get three more hands-free driving features starting this fall based on Ford’s BlueCruise and ActiveGlide ADAS capabilities.

The three features are lane change assist, predictive speed assist and in-lane repositioning, Ford said in an announcement on Thursday. “These improvements are just a beginning of a constant journey toward improving safety and giving customers valuable time back,” said Doug Field, chief EV and digital systems officer for Ford Model e, in a statement.

The changes to BlueCruise version 1.2 affecting the Mustang and future vehicles rely on a driver facing camera, a front windshield camera and front/side/corner radars, Ford told Fierce Electronics. 

Ford relies on an in-house team to add ADAS features and already has more than 75,000 Ford and Lincoln owners enrolled in the BlueCruise and ActiveGlide programs who have put in more than 16 million hands-free driving miles.

Ford described the three new ADAS features  this way:

  • Lane Change Assist can help drivers move through traffic on the freeway with more confidence while using BlueCruise. The system will perform a hands-free lane change when requested by the driver tapping the turn signal, and it can even suggest if a lane change would be beneficial when following slow-moving traffic.
  • Predictive Speed Assist automatically and smoothly adjusts the speed as drivers approach a sharp curve and will help signal the driver ahead of time when a speed change is about to occur, so they understand why the vehicle is slowing.
  • In-Lane Repositioning makes the hands-free highway driving experience feel more natural, keeping the vehicle in its lane while subtly shifting the vehicle’s position away from vehicles in adjacent lanes – especially helpful when next to bigger vehicles such as semis.

A short video on the Ford website shows the maneuvers on an actual highway.

Ford also has been improving maps with over-the-air updates to identify prequalified sections of divided highways where BlueCruise can be used.  The maps now cover more than 130,000 miles.

A Ford spokesman said the 130,000 miles run across the US and Canada, but recent data shows customers are driving hands-free mostly between Dallas and Houston, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas and Cape Canaveral and Fort Lauderdale.

The divided highway segments are qualified with clear lane striping but do not have any C-V2X technology including cellular base stations alongside the highways.

BlueCruise hands free on a Mach-E model is available for free for 90 days. Ford did not disclose pricing for a three year subscription for a specific model.

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