Ford is rolling out its self-driving software Blue Cruise to more vehicles in the US. According to the automaker, the Mustang Mach-E, F-150, and other vehicles will be equipped with Blue Cruise. They can 10.6 million hands-free highway driving miles since the market came a year ago.
Currently, adoption is increasing exponentially as Ford’s Power-Up software updates allow the company to bring BlueCruise technology to a growing number of customers. The Ford owners bought their vehicles before the tech officially launched, so a software update is needed to activate the system. Ford’s CEO Jim Farley shared. “We are rapidly increasing the number of digital vehicles on the road with new services that create ‘always-on’ customer relationships with great software experiences. BlueCruise is a great example as customers have driven more than 10 million miles hands-free in just one year since we launched the capability and delivered it with a Ford Power-Up software update.”
Ford says some 15,000 2021 F-150 and Mustang Mach-E owners have already taken advantage of the Power-Up software updates for BlueCruise. Moreover, another 35,000 customers have already started the process. Adding these numbers to those who already had the tech when they took ownership, there will be nearly 70,000 Ford customers using the BlueCruise hands-free highway driving system.
Blue Cruise
As far as Ford’s Power-Up software updates are concerned, the BlueCruise technology is just the tip of the iceberg. As the automaker moves forward, it will prove that it can continuously improve its vehicles via various software updates even after you buy them. Ford is also using fleet data and anonymous suggestions from owners to help improve its driver-assistance technology so that it performs more like a human driver.
According to Ford, the BlueCruise Power-Up software update also adds a number of other features and enhancements. In addition to the highway driving assistant, the Mustang Mach-E electric crossover gets games, as well as EV charging and driving upgrades.
Ford’s data shows that drivers are using the BlueCruise system most on a few notable routes. The routes most traveled with BlueCruise to date include highways between Dallas and Houston, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, and Cape Canaveral and Ft. Lauderdale. Even more compelling is that just a month ago, Ford’s BlueCruise users had only accumulated 4.5 million miles, but that number more than doubled to 10.6 million miles in just a month. Once the rollout happens, more videos and experience sharing would be released. Similar to how Tesla users share their experiences, many Ford vehicle users have already started interacting on Forums.