Adaptive/blue cruise delayed slowing?

[swngdncr]

My husband and I have both noticed that with Blue Cruise on, when driving on the freeway and we are approaching slowed/stopped traffic ahead, the truck is very late in responding and slowing down. Enough that on several occasions we’ve both had to hit the breaks as we were just frightened that the truck would not slow down on its own. I have the distance set to the maximum. Has anyone else experienced this, is it normal? This seems to happen when traffic is coming to an abrupt stop. Appreciate any feedback. -cj-

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[Amps]

Yes. I can drive a lot better than Blue Cruise can. I hope that the BC 1.2 update will address this aggressiveness along with lane centering bias. The very reason I wanted adaptive cruise control–stop and go traffic–is too unnerving to use it. It does work OK in open highway driving. I don't like it in traffic.

 

[Henry Ford]

It's more aggressive than I am for sure.

 

[RickLightning]

My husband and I have both noticed that with Blue Cruise on, when driving on the freeway and we are approaching slowed/stopped traffic ahead, the truck is very late in responding and slowing down. Enough that on several occasions we’ve both had to hit the breaks as we were just frightened that the truck would not slow down on its own. I have the distance set to the maximum. Has anyone else experienced this, is it normal? This seems to happen when traffic is coming to an abrupt stop. Appreciate any feedback. -cj-

Adaptive Cruise used to include "with Stop and Go" in the name. It is designed for traffic, i.e. you are following a vehicle at the prescribed safe distance. It slows, you slow. It speeds up, you speed up. It slows to a gradual stop, you do also.

The system is not designed to approach a stopped vehicle while you are driving at highway speeds. It will react, just much later than you will find comfortable. This is explained in the manual, and here - https://www.ford.com/support/vehicl...name=adaptive-cruise-control-with-stop-and-go

 

[Adventureboy]

Adaptive Cruise used to include "with Stop and Go" in the name. It is designed for traffic, i.e. you are following a vehicle at the prescribed safe distance. It slows, you slow. It speeds up, you speed up. It slows to a gradual stop, you do also.

The system is not designed to approach a stopped vehicle while you are driving at highway speeds. It will react, just much later than you will find comfortable. This is explained in the manual, and here - https://www.ford.com/support/vehicl...name=adaptive-cruise-control-with-stop-and-go

While I understand the design/programming challenges, BlueCruise needs to account for traffic coming to an abrupt stop and moving forward in the accordion fashion. It is simply unavoidable on our highways. Even in stop-and-go traffic, the Lightning aggressively accelerates when the car ahead is actually slowing or stopping. If Ford is watching this thread, please consider the acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle in front (and not only distance) while in traffic and determine how much to accelerate/decelerate to smooth the accordion. Aggressive acceleration and deceleration in these cases greatly increase the risk of a rear-end incident from the guy behind you who isn't accounting for BlueCruise's aggressive deceleration.

In many cases, I've had to turn it off because it simply scared the crap out of me and my passengers.

 

[metroshot]

Yes. I can drive a lot better than Blue Cruise can. I hope that the BC 1.2 update will address this aggressiveness along with lane centering bias. The very reason I wanted adaptive cruise control–stop and go traffic–is too unnerving to use it. It does work OK in open highway driving. I don't like it in traffic.

BC1.2 still behaves the same way on my MME - reacts very abruptly when traffic up ahead stops....

The only advantages I have seen with BC1.2 are auto lane changes w/ tap of blinkers, slide over for large trucks, and lane centering is very stable without the ping ponging.

Hope the Lightnings and '21/'22 MME get the new BC1.2 soon....

 

[Ford Motor Company]

My husband and I have both noticed that with Blue Cruise on, when driving on the freeway and we are approaching slowed/stopped traffic ahead, the truck is very late in responding and slowing down. Enough that on several occasions we’ve both had to hit the breaks as we were just frightened that the truck would not slow down on its own. I have the distance set to the maximum. Has anyone else experienced this, is it normal? This seems to happen when traffic is coming to an abrupt stop. Appreciate any feedback. -cj-

Hey there, Carla! Can you please send me a DM with your VIN and dealer name/location so I can look into these Bluecruise concerns for you? I'd be happy to see what I can do to assist! To send a private message, just click on our username and select "Start Conversation".

 

[swngdncr]

Adaptive Cruise used to include "with Stop and Go" in the name. It is designed for traffic, i.e. you are following a vehicle at the prescribed safe distance. It slows, you slow. It speeds up, you speed up. It slows to a gradual stop, you do also.

The system is not designed to approach a stopped vehicle while you are driving at highway speeds. It will react, just much later than you will find comfortable. This is explained in the manual, and here - https://www.ford.com/support/vehicl...name=adaptive-cruise-control-with-stop-and-go

Thanks Rick, very helpful reply... -Carla-

 

[TruckE]

I'm so glad to see this post - I have the exact same experience & I actually have two Lightnings right now. One is a loaded 2022 XLT 312A ER with the Co-Pilot Adaptive (e.g. no eye camera) and then I upgraded to get a 2023 Lariat ER with the Blue Cruise package. Neither of them slow down when approaching stopped traffic with anything i would call a margin of safety. I have my following distance settings for max (4 bars).

 

[RickLightning]

I'm so glad to see this post - I have the exact same experience & I actually have two Lightnings right now. One is a loaded 2022 XLT 312A ER with the Co-Pilot Adaptive (e.g. no eye camera) and then I upgraded to get a 2023 Lariat ER with the Blue Cruise package. Neither of them slow down when approaching stopped traffic with anything i would call a margin of safety. I have my following distance settings for max (4 bars).

If you watch the video, that's not what it is designed to do. It will abruptly slow, won't be comfortable, and likely will hit the vehicle in front.

There is no system on these vehicles that is designed for the driver to not be actively involved in driving the vehicle. Even handsfree driving requires attention to the road, and you should be prepared to steer, brake, accelerate, etc.

 

[swngdncr]

I haven't had a chance to check the info Iink posted earlier. But I should add that this happens in a stop and go commute traffic situation. It will be stop and go, then the road opens up and the truck accelerates up to speed of traffic for a while, then up ahead there is another slow down, but the truck doesn't react. Based on comments above, this is normal behavior, but it seems to me this shouldn't be the way it behaves. It seems to me that if there is stopped or slowed traffic ahead that it should recognize this and respond to the situation. I don't know how other adaptive cruise control system work...

 

[Zprime29]

It has to do with the range at which it can detect another vehicle. We can see and assess much farther than these adaptive systems can. My Subaru Legacy did exactly the same thing. I learned how far the system could see and depending on the situation would often disable it. Anything more than a mild slow down and my foot is on the brake. Adaptive cruise is great, but we are still better drivers in many situations.

 

[RickLightning]

I don't know how other adaptive cruise control system work...

The same. You should turn it off if you aren't comfortable with the technology.

 

[swngdncr]

I'm so glad to see this post - I have the exact same experience & I actually have two Lightnings right now. One is a loaded 2022 XLT 312A ER with the Co-Pilot Adaptive (e.g. no eye camera) and then I upgraded to get a 2023 Lariat ER with the Blue Cruise package. Neither of them slow down when approaching stopped traffic with anything i would call a margin of safety. I have my following distance settings for max (4 bars).

I'm glad I wasn't the only one that thought this was odd. But after watching that video and reading the posts, I see that the system definitely doesn't work this way. It's only intended to work in a traffic situation with cars in front of you within a much shorter distance. I still think that ideally it should recognize these kinds of situations....

 

[Chado]

This seems to be sort of normal for adaptive cruise cars, although I would expect much better from the Blue Cruise system that uses radar.

My i3 with TJA does the same, but it lacks radar, only has one camera, and no OTA updates so it's understandable and impressive that it even works in the first place.

My Tesla did the same too but has been very much improved with the update from 2 weeks ago 2023.20.7. I believe in Tesla's case it was due to FSD and normal free Autopilot now using the same freeway algorithm "stack". Now it can come up to stop and go traffic and slow down without feeling like it's going to ram into the car in front, still a bit scary although only slightly harder than I would have done, but much better than previous update from a month before.

Looks like hitting all those stopped emergency vehicles got Tesla to solve this issue.

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