Doesn’t look good for us ever seeing BC 1.4

[Brons2]

The products are useless anyway.

And, WHY do I need Alexa in my car?

On long Interstate trips, BlueCruise has been great for us on the Mach-E. I think it is far better than useless on the open Interstate. I don't have it on my XLT Lightning.

I would like to be able to talk to Google's voice assistant, but, Ford only seems to integrate Alexa, which we don't use.

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[sfringer]

I would like to be able to talk to Google's voice assistant, but, Ford only seems to integrate Alexa, which we don't use.

If you make use of Android Auto, you should be able to interact with the Google Assistant. I regularly say,"Hey Google...: followed by whatever it is I'd like it to do: play specific music, navigate somewhere, answer a question. The only thing it won't do is interact directly with my Lightning (not sure if built-in Alexa allows that or not)

 

[flypony53]

On long Interstate trips, BlueCruise has been great for us on the Mach-E. I think it is far better than useless on the open Interstate. I don't have it on my XLT Lightning.

I would like to be able to talk to Google's voice assistant, but, Ford only seems to integrate Alexa, which we don't use.

what does BlueCruise really offer other than a glorified lane keep assist that disengages while in curves of a highway, ping pongs in the lane, cannot effectively react to vehicles in front.

Maybe mine is just not functioning, but my dealer has been unable to help. Being stuck on 1.0 since delivery does not help either. Listen, if it works for you, great, but my experience of 1 has been terrible with Ford technology. Love the truck, really struggle with Ford.

 

[kalalp]

The ping ponging on mine causes the truck to cross over yellow and double yellow center divider lines on a regular basis -

 

[marc_hanna]

That's exactly what is so dangerous about these things. The better they become, the more comfortable you get, and the more you trust them and let your guard down. All it takes is that one time that it can't see something or interprets something wrong and you kill someone. I believe we are at the most dangerous stage of the process where these systems are getting good enough that they fool people that they are great.

AN interesting article on the topic:

https://natlawreview.com/article/dangers-driverless-cars

It's a little dated now, so I would like to see how the numbers changed. I know that the newest versions of Tesla's FSD (camera-only) is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was four years ago.

 

[Jim Lewis]

I think the PR over self-driving vehicle accidents is a bit like the hype over EV battery fires relative to ICE vehicle gasoline fires.

There are scores of senseless human-driven accidents in San Antonio every year, and, yeah, they get little back page news briefs in our local newspaper. About 40,900 people nationwide were killed in vehicle-related accidents in 2023, yet we blithely accept this as a fact of life; it's going to be some other person, but not me. Yet, with ten self-driving vehicle accidents, Chicken Little, the sky is falling!

There have been estimates that good self-driving vehicles could reduce accident fatalities by 90%! Besides the needed technical improvements, there are legal issues like who gets sued/pays for a software/equipment failure of a self-driving vehicle (and many other things) to resolve.

 

[mrau]

are you sure then on your window sticker it says BC 36months? Mine does not.

My 2023 Lariat show BC for 3 years on the sticker. (Left side, half way down the sticker)

 

[rdr854]

LOL, and with Ford you don't even get what's on the window sticker

If that’s the case, sounds like a class action.

 

[rdr854]

Mine says FORD CO-PILOT360 ACTIVE 2.0
Also, no indication of subscription on the Monroney sticker.

Wht is that in comparison to Bluecruise?

2022 Lariat ER.

 

[Pitbull2o08]

Mine says FORD CO-PILOT360 ACTIVE 2.0
Also, no indication of subscription on the Monroney sticker.

Wht is that in comparison to Bluecruise?

2022 Lariat ER.

Correct, mine as well. But they get to add a trade name onto it, call it something different and put a time limit on it

 

[Brons2]

AN interesting article on the topic:

https://natlawreview.com/article/dangers-driverless-cars

It's a little dated now, so I would like to see how the numbers changed. I know that the newest versions of Tesla's FSD (camera-only) is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was four years ago.

Statistics link is circular. Source not given. Article cannot be trusted.

 

[Brons2]

About 40,900 people nationwide were killed in vehicle-related accidents in 2023, yet we blithely accept this as a fact of life; it's going to be some other person, but not me.

This. Our safety culture on the roads is absymal. I don't trust human drivers. Yet we, as a society, treat this as the cost of doing business. 41K people killed but I can't be bothered to slow down or yield the right of way. Oooookayy......

I had the pleasure of driving the length of Spain in a rental car a few months back and the difference in driving cultures could not be more stark. It was an absolute joy being on the road in Spain, drivers were so polite, yielded the left lane to faster traffic, stopped for pedestrians, and so on.

Here in the USA, it is a "me first", self centered culture and everyone is living in their own heads, which directly translates to their driving. Most people don't GAF about anyone else.

With apologies to those of you who are actually considerate drivers.

 

[Hammick]

The Tesla self-driving is spectacular. I used it in the city in heavy traffic. It was able to make a left turn from a stop sign across two lanes of heavy traffic that had the right-of-way. It chooses when to overtake and adjusts for construction zones. It definitely drives better than my wife, and might even be better than me at gaging distances.

It is definitely nerve-racking to hand the trust over to it, but it delivers well.

I agree FSD was fun to try in the city but I believe it's an accident waiting to happen if you aren't paying attention and ready to intervene. On our test drive of a MX recently it tried to take a right turn on a red that was clearly marked "no turn on red" and it tried to scrape the side of the car against a big snow plow pile when making a right turn.

Hopefully Tesla sales will continue to stagnate and muskrat will sell the tech to other manufacturers. Just leased an R1S when the MX would have better fit our road trip charging needs because we couldn't stand the thought of owning and being seen in one.

 

[PrimeRisk]

Honestly, the gas engine to charge the battery and extend the range between charges would make sense on a large inefficient vehicle like a truck that needs to tow or haul long distances.

Not sure it adds much benefit on a smaller car or SUV other than making people feel better making the transition to EVs, which in itself is also a net positive.

They've tried this...it's called a Self-Charging Hybrid. The difference between a Self-Charging Hybrid and a typical consumer vehicle Hybrid (aka Mild Hybrid) is there is no mechanical linkage between the engine and the wheels. The engine only generates electricity for the motors that turn the wheels. This is how diesel locomotives work and some hybrid busses.

I've owned hybrids, my very first one being a brand new 2004 Toyota Prius. While I loved the efficiency of getting 50+ MPG, the reality is that I had to deal with all of the complexity and maintenance of an ICE and EV in one package. I'd rather just have to deal with one at a time.

 

[PrimeRisk]

LOL, and with Ford you don't even get what's on the window sticker

No lie there.

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