How Does Ford’s BlueCruise Hands-Free Driving Technology Work?
Reading Time: 3 minutesFord offers a competitor to Tesla’s Autopilot with the BlueCruise. Here’s how it works.
Nowadays, the latest vehicles are designed with hands-free driving technology to stay ahead of the competition. Every car with a self-driving feature uses patented software, depending on the manufacturer. For instance, Tesla’s autonomous technology is known as ‘Tesla Auto Pilot’, and GM’s self-driving cars rely on ‘Super Cruise’ self-driving software.
On the other hand, Ford’s hands-free driving technology is trademarked as ‘Ford BlueCruise,’—but it’s unique compared to other self-driving software by different manufacturers. So, how does it work? Let’s find out!
What Is Ford BlueCruise?
Ford BlueCruise is a level 2 automation system used in Ford vehicles. It works similarly to Tesla’s FSD by letting you drive your car without putting your hands on the steering wheel.
More succinctly, it can change lanes and automatically adjust the speed of your vehicle depending on the road condition. In addition, it can re-position your Ford vehicle on the lane while interacting with traffic and automatically brake in an emergency. To know more about self-driving systems, you should check out our explanation of the six levels of driving automation.
However, if you want to use Ford’s BlueCruise, you can only activate it on approved roadways—at the moment, it works on about 130,000 miles in North America.
Which Vehicles Use Ford’s BlueCruise?
The Ford BlueCruise comes standard on Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach. However, if you’re driving a Lincoln, it’s known as Lincoln ActiveGlide—although it’s the same software, it’s trademarked under a different name. The Lincoln ActiveGlide is a standard feature on the 2023 Lincoln Corsair and 2022 Lincoln Navigator.
What about the subscription? Ford Media Center says it should cost you $600 for the BlueCruise software. In addition, if you own a Ford F-150 model with Ford Co-Pilot 360 Active 2.0, it should come with BlueCruise—but it will cost you an extra $1,595 to install.
How Does Ford BlueCruise Work?
If you’re on a divided highway mapped out by Ford’s BlueCruise, you will notice a blue light on your dashboard display—this lets you know you can activate Ford BlueCruise hands-free driving.
To enable hands-free driving, you must navigate to features, select Driver Assistance, and activate Lane Centering under the Cruise Control option. You then need to press the button on your steering wheel marked with an odometer and car symbol to engage and disengage Ford BlueCruise hands-free driving mode.
Once Ford BlueCruise is turned on, you can use the buttons on the steering wheel to fine-tune your speed and proximity to other vehicles. According to a Ford report, it’s also possible to automatically change the lane using BlueCruise by activating the turn signal.
Beyond that, if you notice a green light on the dashboard, you must put your hands back on the steering wheel to take back control. However, you can still use Ford BlueCruise with your hands on the steering wheel to automatically steer, brake, and accelerate your vehicle.
Does Ford BlueCruise Prevent Driver Distraction?
Since the Ford BlueCruise is a level 2 automation system, drivers must keep their eyes on the road even if the hands-free driving mode is activated. Like with the reports of Teslas crashing even on Autopilot, a Ford with BlueCruise can still crash if the driver is distracted while using hands-free technology.
To prevent driver distraction, your Ford vehicle monitors your eye and head movement using in-built cameras. If the cameras notice that your attention is diverted somewhere else, even if you’re wearing sunglasses, you will receive a warning on the digital display.
If you don’t shift your attention back on the road after the warning, BlueCruise hands-free driving mode will deactivate and prompt your vehicle to slow down gradually.
Which Conditions Affect Ford BlueCruise?
The Ford BlueCruise software can only control your vehicle in approved roadways known as ‘Blue Zones.’ Currently, the Blue Zones are only available in the United States and some parts of Canada.
Nevertheless, BlueCruise hands-free driving is limited to divided highways with visible lane markings. Also, Ford BlueCruise hands-free driving will deactivate if you’re driving close to a construction site—this is crucial so that you can react to any potential hazard on the road. Similarly, you may be unable to rely on Ford BlueCruise if you drive on a narrow road.
Besides that, Ford’s self-driving system could be affected by extreme weather conditions that make it difficult to identify lane markings in Blue Zones.
Is Ford BlueCruise Worth the Hype?
Ford BlueCruise is just as good as Tesla’s Autopilot and GM’s Super Cruise—if not better. If paired with other driver assist features, you won’t just drive your vehicle hands-free but also receive potential collision and blind spot alerts.
What’s more, you can integrate Ford BlueCruise with parking assist, evasive driving assist, and hill descent control to make driving safer than ever before. The only downside of BlueCruise is that it’s only available on the latest Ford vehicles, so you’ll have to trade in your old car for a new model if you want to enjoy this tech.