Ford to build driverless cars for 2021

Ford will build a “high volume” of driverless cars for ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft by 2021.

Carmaker Ford has announced plans on Tuesday (16 August 2016), to mass-produce a fully autonomous self-driving car without a steering wheel by 2021, for companies such as Uber and Lyft.

Ford’s plans outlined a fully autonomous car, with no steering wheel or pedals, in contrast to partly-autonomous vehicles produced by the likes of Tesla, Audi and BMW, which have the ability to self-steer and control speed via sensors on highways.

It expects to have 30 test self-driving Fusion Hybrid cars on the road in California, Arizona and Michigan this year, and 90 next year.

Mark Fields, Ford’s President and Chief Executive, said the next decade would be “defined by automation of the automobile”, comparing the effect that autonomous cars would have on society to the introduction of the assembly line a century ago.

In a speech to workers in Silicon Valley, he said: “We’re dedicated to putting on the road an autonomous vehicle that can improve safety and solve social and environmental challenges for millions of people – not just those who can afford luxury vehicles.”

Ford said it would double its investment in its research centre in the city, and announced a series of investments in automation and sensor technology.

In the past, the company has described itself as a technology company rather than a car maker.

Raj Nair, Ford’s Chief Technical Officer, said: “We have a strategic advantage because of our ability to combine the software and sensing technology with the sophisticated engineering necessary to manufacture high-quality vehicles. That is what it takes to make autonomous vehicles a reality for millions of people around the world.”

In partnership with Chinese firm Baidu, Ford has made a joint investment of $150m (£115M) in Velodyne – a company that works on light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology. LiDAR is the system used for accurately detecting objects around the car. Ford was also part of an investment round that raised $6.6M for Civil Maps – a digital mapping company – as well as money put towards neuroscience research.

 

If you would like to read more articles like this then please click here

The post Ford to build driverless cars for 2021 appeared first on UK Construction Online.