Ford announces 'smart mobility' plans at Consumer Electronics Show

Ford highlighted how it is using innovation not only to create advanced vehicles but also to help change the way the world moves by solving today’s growing global transport challenges.

Also at the CES last week, Ford demonstrated SYNC 3, its most advanced vehicle connectivity system, which begins arriving on new vehicles this year. It also highlighted the semi-autonomous vehicles the company has on the road today and the fully autonomous vehicles now in development.

Ford announced that it would conduct 25 Smart Mobility experiments around the world this year to test breakthrough transport ideas to create more flexibility in the driving experience and allow social collaboration.

Eight of the experiments will be in North America, nine in Europe and Africa, seven in Asia and one in South America. Each experiment is designed to anticipate what customers will want and need in tomorrow’s transport ecosystem.

“We see a world where vehicles talk to one another, drivers and vehicles communicate with the city infrastructure to relieve congestion, and people routinely share vehicles or multiple forms of transportation for their daily commute. The experiments we’re undertaking today will lead to an all-new model of transportation and mobility within the next 10 years and beyond,” said Ford president and chief executive officer Mark Fields. 

The 25 experiments address four global mega-trends – explosive population growth, an expanding middle class, concerns about air quality and public health, and changing customer attitudes and priorities – challenging today’s transport model and limiting personal mobility, especially in urban areas.

 Challenges include finding technology solutions to identify open parking spaces in urban areas, better ways to navigate crowded cities, and the use of navigation and other tools to help people gain access to medical care in remote areas.

Ford’s semi-autonomous vehicle features available now include lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, pre-collision assist with pedestrian detection, and active park assist – with traffic-jam assist coming.

A fully autonomous Ford Fusion Hybrid research vehicle is undergoing road testing. The vehicle uses the same semi-autonomous technology used in existing Ford vehicles, while adding four LiDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors to generate a real-time three-dimensional map of the surrounding environment.

The vehicle can sense objects around it using the LiDAR sensors, and uses advanced algorithms to help it learn to predict where vehicles and pedestrians might move.