Ford Motor Co. plans to debut technology in two years that will allow drivers to take their eyes off the road, which could lead the automaker into the emerging robotaxi business, according to a top executive.
Ford said Wednesday it will launch so-called Level 3 autonomy in 2028 on its Blue Cruise driver-assist feature that currently allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel, but requires them to keep their eyes on the road. The new version that allows drivers to look away will debut first on Ford’s forthcoming $30,000 all-electric small pickup truck, Doug Field, the automaker’s chief EV, digital and design officer, said in an interview.
It will allow drivers to conduct work such as videoconferencing or enjoy entertainment while safely driving down the road, which Ford expects is something consumers will come to demand, he said.
“Of all the things that people need in life right now, time is pretty high on that list” and they don’t want the stress of driving, Field said by phone from Las Vegas, where he is speaking at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show. “We think it’ll be super compelling.”
If acceptance is as high as Ford expects, Field didn’t rule out the automaker using the technology to get into the robotaxi business, which he said would be a natural adjacency to its thriving commercial unit, known as Ford Pro.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves right now, but we think we have a really compelling platform to work with a partner on that,” Field said of the possibility of developing a robotaxi business. “How far we take L3 would determine our long-term strategy.”
Should Ford join the robotaxi race, it would be a turnabout from its 2022 decision to shut down its autonomous affiliate Argo AI and cancel plans to develop fully self-driving cars, which Field at the time said was “harder than putting a man on the moon.”
Now he sees “a lot of forces that are causing an awakening” to the promise of automating ride hailing. Tesla Inc. and Google-parent Alphabet Inc. are currently the dominant players working to automate ride hailing, which Wall Street sees as a potentially lucrative business.
For now, Ford is focusing on how to sell Level 3 autonomy to consumers. The automaker is still determining how to price it and is considering a one-time charge, a per-mile charge or a subscription, Field said.
Because the automaker developed the technology in-house using lower-cost components, Field said Ford will have a competitive advantage that will make the technology accessible to more consumers.
“You’re putting it on a platform that can start in the $30,000s instead of going up and putting an L3 platform on top of a vehicle that could be $70,000 to $100,000 like most of our competitors,” Field said. “That’s a really big deal.”
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