Ford remains wary of Tesla-like autonomous driving features
At a time when Tesla has already rolled out advanced autonomous driving features in its cars, Ford is proceeding more cautiously because it believes the industry is not ready to hand over such features to consumers.
On Tuesday, Ford announced that by 2021 it plans to offer a fully self-driving (autonomous) vehicle for multi-passenger shuttles and ride-hailing services such as Uber. The vehicle will be manufactured with no steering wheel, no gas or brake pedal. In other words, no driver necessary.
Well before 2021, Ford will be testing prototypes on U.S. roadways of those fully-autonomous vehicles, according to Randy Visintainer, director of Autonomous Vehicles at Ford. The automaker hopes a fleet of self-driving vehicle shuttles and ride-hailing services can tap into a market that includes the elderly, infirm or young who are not able to drive.
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