The Ford system acts exactly as you are describing on all roads between adaptive cruise and lane centering - as long as it can see the lines. You just need to keep you hands on the wheel. Blue cruise is the next step beyond that and lets you also go hands free on the mapped divided highways.I wouldn't hold your breath. I gave up on that fairy tale years ago.
I will say though that, for as much as I (and most others now) bag on the newer "FSD" and it's lack of features, the previous iteration of Autopilot (starting in 2014 with Autopilot 1 aka AP1) remains a fan favorite. It just works. Like... everywhere. As long as there are lines on the road (and sometimes even if there are not) you can activate it. I've got so used to using it over the years that I take pause when I consider buying a vehicle that doesn't have that ability.
For me, all I need is what the very first version of Tesla's Autopilot (AP1) offered: Adaptive cruise, lane keep plus the ability to manually change lanes using the turn signal stalk w/o having to take it out of Autopilot. Give me those in a package that is smooth and trustworthy and I'm all set while they work the kinks out on those more advanced systems.
No requirement to see your eyes (how does this even work during the daylight hours when most drivers wear sunglasses) and slight resistance from a hand every now and then to make sure you're still conscious. Perfect. It's damn near flawless in it's execution too which is a marvel considering it's remained largely unchanged saved for minor tweaks here and there (none for several years now) going back to 2014.
In fact, my AP1 Tesla Model S's offer a more enjoyable Autopilot experience than my AP2 cars. The AP2 cars have a lot more "quirks" that make it less reliable and less trustworthy. I use this as the litmus test for manufacturers that are struggling so mightily as we approach 2023... nearly a decade later. EV or not, there is no reason that other manufacturers shouldn't have bene working on this tech more seriously this entire time.
I don't need any of that other fancy stuff like smart summon, street light recognition, etc. that Autopilot 2 (AP2) offers and most of that stuff is untrustworthy. IMO one of the biggest mistakes Tesla (read: Elon) ever made was burning that bridge with MobileEye and thinking they would take that autopilot development for AP2 in-house. It took them until last year to make the experience similar to what MobileEye created for AP1 and, in some ways, AP1 is still superior even all of these years later. Crazy.
I digress.
It sounds a lot like the AI experience with Ford currently isn't going to get me close to what I'm used to even from nearly decade-old systems from Tesla so I doubt I'm going to invest anything in it currently. I can't see any current maps but my guess is it's highways/interstates only and it states specifically that they need to be divided. Given how few roads are actually divided my guess is that this wouldn't work on 90% of the roads I frequent even if I opt to remove my sunglasses and get blinded so the nanny can see me. That's one I have a hard time signing up for if that's indeed how it works. That's another area where I feel Tesla is far superior is it's lack of nannies whereas the larger manufacturers seem to base their entire existence on telling people what they can and can't (mostly can't) do with their vehicles.
I don't keep vehicles long enough to make it a worthwhile investment and, seeing as how many people are onto their 2nd and 3rd car after dropping $10k (now $15k... egads!) on FSD that never delivered on the promises... I'm glad I never got onboard with that. I'm keen to let others pay to beta test software where lives are literally on the line and my guess is that trend will continue onto Ford for me.
This is correct. No issues with sunglasses.I think the eye sensor uses infrared that is not bothered by sunglasses?
I agree with your experience. I was a Tesla owner for almost 7 years and found the first version of autopilot to be much more useful. Blue Cruise reminds me of the experience. I have driven my Lightning over 4,200 miles and used BC often. As with Tesla AP1, it has some very specific use cases, but I like it and find it helpful. I would recommend it for anyone driving a lot of highway miles.I wouldn't hold your breath. I gave up on that fairy tale years ago.
I will say though that, for as much as I (and most others now) bag on the newer "FSD" and it's lack of features, the previous iteration of Autopilot (starting in 2014 with Autopilot 1 aka AP1) remains a fan favorite. It just works. Like... everywhere. As long as there are lines on the road (and sometimes even if there are not) you can activate it. I've got so used to using it over the years that I take pause when I consider buying a vehicle that doesn't have that ability.
For me, all I need is what the very first version of Tesla's Autopilot (AP1) offered: Adaptive cruise, lane keep plus the ability to manually change lanes using the turn signal stalk w/o having to take it out of Autopilot. Give me those in a package that is smooth and trustworthy and I'm all set while they work the kinks out on those more advanced systems.
No requirement to see your eyes (how does this even work during the daylight hours when most drivers wear sunglasses) and slight resistance from a hand every now and then to make sure you're still conscious. Perfect. It's damn near flawless in it's execution too which is a marvel considering it's remained largely unchanged saved for minor tweaks here and there (none for several years now) going back to 2014.
In fact, my AP1 Tesla Model S's offer a more enjoyable Autopilot experience than my AP2 cars. The AP2 cars have a lot more "quirks" that make it less reliable and less trustworthy. I use this as the litmus test for manufacturers that are struggling so mightily as we approach 2023... nearly a decade later. EV or not, there is no reason that other manufacturers shouldn't have bene working on this tech more seriously this entire time.
I don't need any of that other fancy stuff like smart summon, street light recognition, etc. that Autopilot 2 (AP2) offers and most of that stuff is untrustworthy. IMO one of the biggest mistakes Tesla (read: Elon) ever made was burning that bridge with MobileEye and thinking they would take that autopilot development for AP2 in-house. It took them until last year to make the experience similar to what MobileEye created for AP1 and, in some ways, AP1 is still superior even all of these years later. Crazy.
I digress.
It sounds a lot like the AI experience with Ford currently isn't going to get me close to what I'm used to even from nearly decade-old systems from Tesla so I doubt I'm going to invest anything in it currently. I can't see any current maps but my guess is it's highways/interstates only and it states specifically that they need to be divided. Given how few roads are actually divided my guess is that this wouldn't work on 90% of the roads I frequent even if I opt to remove my sunglasses and get blinded so the nanny can see me. That's one I have a hard time signing up for if that's indeed how it works. That's another area where I feel Tesla is far superior is it's lack of nannies whereas the larger manufacturers seem to base their entire existence on telling people what they can and can't (mostly can't) do with their vehicles.
I don't keep vehicles long enough to make it a worthwhile investment and, seeing as how many people are onto their 2nd and 3rd car after dropping $10k (now $15k... egads!) on FSD that never delivered on the promises... I'm glad I never got onboard with that. I'm keen to let others pay to beta test software where lives are literally on the line and my guess is that trend will continue onto Ford for me.
Can you elaborate on the "it has some very specific use cases" as compared to AP1 because I use that everywhere. So far, from what I'm reading, it seems like the delta between AP1 and BC is quite large and this delta is exactly what I'm referring when I say it seems like it's not worth it at this stage.I agree with your experience. I was a Tesla owner for almost 7 years and found the first version of autopilot to be much more useful. Blue Cruise reminds me of the experience. I have driven my Lightning over 4,200 miles and used BC often. As with Tesla AP1, it has some very specific use cases, but I like it and find it helpful. I would recommend it for anyone driving a lot of highway miles.
Sure. I think it works best for long highway driving. I recently made a cross-country trip of over 2,000 miles and I used it about 85% of the time. I found it did a very good job of relieving the stress of driving that long distance. It is not full self driving, but I liked the implementation better than AP1 because I could take over much more seamlessly than what I used to do with Tesla, which felt like I was fighting the system. I also use it when driving to work since it is a combination of stop and go traffic, combined with highway driving. It does both exceptionally well. If Musk had originally called autopilot something like "robo cruise control' or something, I don't think we would have had as many frustrated customers. I find that it is good for these use cases because it frees you up from 100% of your concentration being on driving, so it is good for eating, drinking, etc while driving. Hope this helps.Can you elaborate on the "it has some very specific use cases" as compared to AP1 because I use that everywhere. So far, from what I'm reading, it seems like the delta between AP1 and BC is quite large and this delta is exactly what I'm referring when I say it seems like it's not worth it at this stage.