Ford to Launch Technology for Drivers to Take Eyes off Road in Two Years

TapTechNews June 3rd, according to Bloomberg, Ford Motor Company's chief executive officer, Jim Farley, recently said in an interview that it would only take Ford Motor Company two years to introduce technology that allows drivers to take their eyes off the road and their hands off the steering wheel. "We're very close to the goal already."

Jim Farley said, "We can do this very regularly through prototypes now, but it's the progress we need to make to do it in an economical and efficient way." He believes Ford can make rapid progress and offer this feature in 2026, which could make it the first automaker to offer what automotive engineers call "L3 autonomous driving".

In this case, the car takes over the driving tasks under certain conditions, allowing the driver to shift their attention to other tasks. "L3 autonomous driving will allow you to use both hands and eyes on the highway in a few years, and then your car will be like an office. You can have conference calls and do all kinds of things."

According to the introduction, Ford's autonomous driving system can operate on highways at a speed of up to 80 miles per hour (TapTechNews note: about 128.75 kilometers), but only in clear skies. "Under weather like heavy rain, it's difficult for the vehicle to achieve this task."