Ford owners who bought a vehicle equipped with Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving system will have to wait a little longer for the feature to activate. Ford has delayed a planned rollout of the feature until early next year.
Those who buy a BlueCruise-equipped vehicle on dealership lots today will find the system functional immediately. But those who bought a car with the understanding that it would activate later will have to wait a little longer than planned.
Hands-Free, but Not True Self-Driving
BlueCruise is a hands-free driving system, similar to GM’s Super Cruise or Tesla’s (misleadingly-named) Full Self-Driving. None of those systems allow full self-driving. But they do allow the driver to take their hands off the wheel (though not their eyes off the road) under certain circumstances. They ease some of the driver’s workload but do not turn a vehicle into a fully autonomous car.
Related: Self-Driving Cars – Everything You Need to Know
SAE International, a global association of engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive, and commercial-vehicle industries, defines every system car shoppers can buy today as a Level 2 automation system. Truly autonomous cars won’t exist until manufacturers reach Level 5.
Works on Pre-Mapped Highways
BlueCruise works on more than 100,000 miles of pre-mapped highway. It can safely accelerate, brake, and turn through highway curves. It will keep a safe distance from the car ahead, track the driver’s attention, and prompt you to take over if conditions change or your eyes drift from the road.
In spring, Ford began selling some models equipped for the system. But the company didn’t activate it. Instead, it planned to roll it out via an over-the-air software update in the third quarter of 2021. Now, that update has been delayed into the first quarter of 2022.
Still Available for Purchase
BlueCruise is offered on some models of the 2021 Ford F-150 pickup and the Mustang Mach-E electric crossover SUV.
BlueCruise is standard equipment on the top-of-the-range F-150 Limited model and available on the Lariat, King Ranch, and Platinum trims as part of the Ford Co-Pilot 360 Active 2.0 Prep Package for an additional $995. On the Mach-E, it’s standard on the California Route 1, Premium, and First Edition models or available with the prep package on the Select trim for an additional $2,600.
Ford Working to Get it Down to One Download
Buyers can still order BlueCruise, but it won’t be active until sometime next year. On a call with investors, Ford CEO Jim Farley explained, “We wanted to improve the customer experience. So we pushed it back.”
The company wants to activate BlueCruise with a single software update. “That takes a little planning to consolidate,” Farley said. “Often, these Level 2 systems require multiple updates to the car. We want it to be very simple.”
