Ford is currently working on its new autonomous car, which is expected to arrive in 2021. While were still a few years away until it arrives, Ford has released a bit more info about its autonomous car, with the biggest update being that it won’t be available for consumers.
While the fact that Ford doesn’t plan to sell its autonomous vehicle to consumers may be a bit disappointing, the chances of you being able to ride in it are high. Ford plans to build its autonomous vehicle as a ride-hailing vehicle that will act like Uber or Lyft, but without the driver.
Autonomous vehicles have been a large part of the conversation lately, but there’s still a large group of consumers that don’t entirely trust them yet. To help gain the trust of consumers, Ford’s autonomous vehicle will have several back up systems to back up its level 4 autonomous driving capabilities. For example if the steering system fails, a second system will jump in to take over.
If something does happen to go wrong, Ford says that the autonomous vehicle has a Minimal Risk Condition mode, which can bring the vehicle to a stop safely if needed.
To make sure everyone is safe, Ford’s autonomous vehicle will also only operate in Operational Design Domain, which means that it will only operate on certain roads and in certain traffic situations or weather conditions.
Source: Ford