Ford chose the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas this week to announce its Ford Smart Mobility Plan, which embraces connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, and big data. The company said it is launching 25 global experiments to test new ideas for addressing transportation challenges. In addition, Ford showcased its SYNC 3 vehicle-connectivity system, and it highlighted semiautonomous vehicles on the road today and a fully autonomous vehicle in development.
“Even as we showcase connected cars and share our plans for autonomous vehicles, we are here at CES with a higher purpose,” said Ford president and CEO Mark Fields. “We are driving innovation in every part of our business to be both a product and mobility company—and, ultimately, to change the way the world moves just as our founder Henry Ford did 111 years ago.”
The experiments include “Big Data Drive,” in which more than 200 Ford employees in Dearborn, MI, allow the company to collect driving data from in-vehicle sensors. Researchers hope to apply data analytics to derive mobility solutions to improve products based on how drivers actually use their vehicles.
Other experiments address topics ranging from data-driven insurance to painless parking. Fourteen of the experiments are Ford-led; you’ll find the list here. The additional 11 are part of the Innovate Mobility Challenge Series, in which Ford as invited innovators outside the company to create solutions.
SYNC 3 is Ford’s communication and entertainment system that employs a conversational approach to speech recognition. It includes a smartphone-like touchscreen and easy-to-read graphics. It will begin appearing in vehicles this year.
Ford highlighted semiautonomous vehicles on the road today, include ones with lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, pre-collision assist with pedestrian detection, and active parking assist. Traffic-jam assist is coming.
A fully autonomous Ford Fusion Hybrid research vehicle is undergoing road testing, the company said. The vehicle adds four LiDAR sensors to generate a real-time 3D map of the surrounding environment.
“We’re already manufacturing and selling semiautonomous vehicles that use software and sensors to steer into both parallel and perpendicular parking spaces, adjust speed based on traffic flow, or apply the brakes in an emergency,” said Raj Nair, Ford chief technical officer and group vice president for global product development. “There will be a Ford autonomous vehicle in the future, and we take putting one on the road very seriously.”
Added CEO Fields, “Our priority is not in making marketing claims or being in a race for the first autonomous car on the road,” Fields said. “Our priority is in making the first Ford autonomous vehicle accessible to the masses and truly enhancing customers’ lives.”
