Ford says that autonomous vehicles in 2021 are part of Ford Smart Mobility, the company’s plan to be a leader in autonomous vehicles, as well as in connectivity, mobility, the customer experience, and data and analytics. The Michigan based automobile manufacturer has announced that its autonomous cars would hit roads in 2021, while they would possibly be used for commercial ride-sharing purposes.
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“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”, said Fields, Ford’s chief executive, in a statement.
Ford CEO Mark Fields announced the new goal Tuesday at the company’s Silicon Valley campus in Palo Alto, Calif. Jin Wang, senior vice president and general manager of Baidu’s autonomous driving unit touched on this point when he explained that “our investment will accelerate our efforts in autonomous driving with what, in our view, are the best LiDAR sensors available today and advance Velodyne’s development of increasingly sophisticated LiDAR sensors”.
“We abandoned the stepping-stone approach of driver-assist technologies and decided we were going to take the full leap”, said Raj Nair, Ford’s chief technical officer. Now, Ford says, it will expand its fleet of self-driving cars to 30.
Nair says Ford will continue developing systems that assist the driver, like automatic emergency braking or lane departure warning.
Lu sees the auto industry being fully autonomous by “three years at the earliest or five years at the latest”.
Building on more than a decade of autonomous vehicle research and development, Ford said its first fully autonomous vehicle will be a Society of Automotive Engineers-rated level 4-capable vehicle without a steering wheel or gas and brake pedals.
The Dearborn, Mich. -based company also says it plans to double the staff at its Palo Alto research center by the end of next year to almost 300 people. Ford has invested in a self-driving-technology company called Velodyne, and is working with a handful of other start-ups in the space too.
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Ford has also formed a partnership with New York-based Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC, a machine vision company that has developed devices for restoring sight to patients with degenerative eye diseases.
