DETROIT — Ford Motor Co.’s upcoming hands-free driver-assist system has a brand new identify: BlueCruise.
Beforehand known as Active Drive Assist, the function will go stay within the third quarter on Ford’s Mustang Mach-E crossover and F-150 pickup. Ford mentioned Wednesday that BlueCruise software program, activated by means of an over-the-air-update, will price $600 for a three-year subscription, on high of the worth of the {hardware} that varies by automobile.
The function lastly will give Ford a solution to Basic Motors’ Tremendous Cruise and Tesla’s Autopilot programs, though Ford has vowed to make BlueCruise more intuitive.
At launch, the system will enable house owners to navigate greater than 100,000 miles of divided highways with out the necessity to place their fingers on the steering wheel. It later might be up to date to incorporate computerized lane altering and different options.
The automaker mentioned it examined the system on greater than 600,000 miles of divided freeway, together with a latest 110,000-mile highway journey throughout 37 states and 5 Canadian provinces.
“There are freeway intricacies and driving situations that you just can not replicate in a lab,” Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer, mentioned in a press release. “Sending these automobiles out for real-world driving expertise is only one of some ways we ensured that BlueCruise know-how affords confidence and comfort for drivers all throughout the continent.”
Ford mentioned it expects to promote 100,000 vehicles outfitted with BlueCruise within the system’s first yr on sale.
Along with the $600 subscription, automobiles will need to have a driver-facing digital camera to make use of the system. The mandatory {hardware} is commonplace on the F-150 Restricted. F-150 Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum fashions want the $995 Ford Co-Pilot 360 Energetic 2.0 package deal for a complete $1,595 together with the subscription cost. Homeowners of decrease trims can not use BlueCruise.
BlueCruise {hardware} is commonplace on Mustang Mach-E CA Route 1, Premium and First Version fashions. It is accessible on the Choose trim as a part of the $3,200 Consolation and Expertise package deal, which incorporates the subscription cost.
Ford officers declined to say how a lot the subscription will price after the primary three years.
In a briefing with media members, officers additionally declined to quote something BlueCruise can try this GM’s Tremendous Cruise couldn’t, however Ford’s information launch famous that the system will present that it is engaged by means of textual content and blue lighting cues which are efficient for these with coloration blindness.