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The carmaker says advanced driver-assistant systems shouldn’t be exclusive to high-end models.
Helping Ford achieve Level 3 autonomy will be LiDAR and its new in-house compute center.
Ford has also launched an innovative AI assistant at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Ford has revealed that it will introduce a hands-off, eyes-off Level 3 driver-assistance system in 2028, installed in a vehicle underpinned by the firm’s affordable Universal Electric Vehicle platform, itself launching in 2027.
A driving assistance system this advanced has been a long time coming for Ford. In 2016, the car manufacturer claimed that by 2021, it would have a Level 4 autonomous vehicle in commercial operation, skipping Level 3 altogether and jumping straight from L2 to L4. However, Ford, like many other car manufacturers, underestimated the technical challenges of such advanced systems.
The carmaker has revealed that it will use LiDAR to support its Level 3 system. While it added that the technology will premiere in a vehicle underpinned by its new Universal Electric Vehicle platform, which will start with a midsize electric pickup truck starting at around $30,000, it didn’t confirm if this is the model the L3 system will debut in.
Speaking with Reuters, Ford’s EV chief Doug Field noted the new driver-assistant suite will not come standard at Ford’s $30,000 price point and will be made available as an option. He added that Ford has yet to decide whether it will be available as a recurring subscription or as a one-off fee.
Ford’s new unified vehicle brain
According to Ford, “autonomy shouldn’t be a premium feature,” and it will make its L3 system attainable thanks to software and hardware that’s been developed in-house. It added that, as it owns the technology behind the systems, it can deliver “significantly more capability at a 30% lower cost than if we bought it from outside suppliers,” helping make the system more scalable.
Helping to make everything possible is Ford’s new unified vehicle brain, a powerful module unifying the infotainment, ADAS, audio, and networking systems. This new compute center gives Ford five times more control over semiconductors, handles complex computing tasks faster than ever before, is nearly half the size of old computers, and is significantly cheaper to produce.
Ford AI Assistant
In addition to making these announcements at CES, Ford revealed its new AI assistant. It will soon be added to the Ford and Lincoln apps. It’s not just a generic alternative to ChatGPT, or Gemini. Instead, it’s tailored specifically to Ford vehicles. Snap a photo of bags of firewood, and it’ll tell you how many of them will fit in the bed of your F-150. Next year, the AI assistant will be added directly to the onboard screens of Ford and Lincoln models.