Ford introduced right this moment that it’s increasing the provision of its BlueCruise hands-free driving tech. Beforehand, prospects needed to resolve whether or not so as to add the choice on accessible fashions at buy — and that call was last. Now, the service shall be put in as customary on all supported automobiles. Along with enabling it at buy, house owners can add the service later or solely activate it for months when wanted (like for highway journeys).
You’ll nonetheless have the choice of shopping for the characteristic at buy and folding it into your financing. Nonetheless, now you can additionally subscribe to entry yearly or month-to-month at any level after that. BlueCruise prices $2,100 at buy (for 3 years), whereas annual subscriptions value $800 and month-to-month subscriptions $75. Ford additionally affords a 90-day free trial in the event you select to not set it up at buy.
The automaker expects to put in BlueCruise on 500,000 automobiles in North America for the 2024 mannequin yr. That’s a major ramp-up because it’s presently solely put in on lower than half of that: 225,000, based on Ford.
The service’s modifications will even apply to Lincolns. The 2024 Navigator and Nautilus strains and “choose trims” of the Lincoln Corsair will come geared up with BlueCruise. The $800 annual and $75 month-to-month pricing is similar for Lincoln fashions.
Ford says the tech’s upcoming model, BlueCruise 1.3, will improve efficiency when driving round curves and slender lanes. The corporate says v1.Three helps you to hold your palms off the wheel longer. “Based mostly on our inside testing, BlueCruise 1.Three stayed engaged in hands-free mode for a mean of 5X longer in comparison with BlueCruise 1.0, the primary model of BlueCruise,” the automaker stated. The 1.2 software program, rolled out earlier this yr, added hands-free lane modifications, in-lane repositioning and predictive velocity help. The corporate is severe about AI-assisted driving: It created an automated-driving subsidiary earlier this yr to push towards a extra machine-driven future.