In a statement: “Ford today announces its intent to have a high-volume, fully autonomous SAE level 4-capable vehicle in commercial operation in 2021 in a ride-hailing or ride-sharing service”.
CEO Mark Fields explains level4-capable vehicles to be fully automated: “no steering wheel, no gas pedal, no brake pedal, driver not required.”
With road accidents already so common on British roads, do we need to welcome driverless vehicles, or worry about what could go wrong?
Ford Motor Co will be following Tesla’s footsteps in developing their own self-driving cars in the U.S.
The popular car company are reportedly working with multiple partners to create large self-driving vehicles for delivery services. Tesla and other car makers have been busy testing self-driving cars, with the British Minister for Transport approving testing for autonomous trucks on British motorways next year.
Ford’s vision is set to see large commercial vehicles used for delivering goods to become autonomous in order to cut down on costs through more efficient driving and reducing labour costs.
As with all new technological advances, competitors need to step up and join the bandwagon or risk becoming irrelevant. However, in the race to the top, we may see corners being cut, therefore creating risks for the consumer who expect consistent high quality across the board.
Tesla has spent years and billions upon billions of dollars on researching and developing their technology. Will Ford’s version be a basic workable concept, or will it be researched in depth and created with every detail scrutinised? Technological glitches may be imminent, but the cost here can be dear. For one Tesla driver, Joshua Brown, it cost him his life when his Model S Tesla failed to distinguish between the bright sky and a large white truck.
Vice president of the autonomous vehicles and electrification for Ford, Sherif Marakby, believes the first self-driving Fords will be on the roads as early as 2021. Is four years enough to develop the same technology Tesla poured billions into?
Many are understandably sceptical of the whole self-driving phenomenon as driving has always had an element of human control. Sharing the roads with essentially robots who drive themselves in normal-looking cars will always insert an element of doubt for humans. The issues will always come down to safety; and it’s as simple as that.