Ford Motor Co. recently released a 44-page report, entitled “A Matter of Trust,” which clearly states its vision of the autonomous future the tech industry’s attempting to stuff down our collective throats. The file covers Ford’s overall philosophy on self-driving vehicles, a milestone timeline, answers frequently asked questions, and states what the company intends to do over the next couple of years.
While we applaud any automaker that takes the initiative to craft a comprehensive report detailing what they’re plotting, we can’t say we’re enthralled with what we’ve read.
A large portion of the report focuses on giving a general idea of how autonomous vehicles function, what they’ll have to cope with, and answering difficult questions in a frank and honest manner. But Ford also said it intends to launch an AV in 2021 that lacks a steering wheel or pedals. We weren’t happy hearing about General Motors’ development of a car without driver controls back in January and nothing has changed our minds since then.
“…our self-driving vehicles will operate without the need for a driver,” reads the report. “In fact, the purpose-built self-driving vehicle we plan to introduce in 2021 is designed to operate without a steering wheel, gas or brake pedals. We can do this because we’re applying the technology in the way it is designed to operate, such as using self-driving vehicles for a ride-hailing service within a specifically-defined area of a city and only when the weather is good enough for the sensors to work properly.”
Ford’s paper is eerily similar to GM’s Self-Driving Safety Report. Both seem to serve primarily as ways to reassure the NHTSA that the automakers are committed to safety above all else while giving a general idea of their business model and the associated technology. The pair intend to utilize autonomous technology for commercial fleets first, then roll AVs out to the general populace. But Ford clearly noted it wasn’t in a competition to see which company would first cross the finish line with a self-driving model.
“We are not in a race to be first to offer self-driving vehicles to the public,” Ford said. “Our focus is on doing it correctly”
Whether that’s because most analysts seem to agree that GM is slightly ahead in that non-race or simply because Ford cares more about safety is irrelevant. Ford is right; rushing this tech would be a big mistake. People’s lives are at stake and every mishap involving advanced driving systems fills headlines — leading to public distrust of the technology.
In the doc’s Q&A section, the automaker addressed the incident where one of Uber’s self-driving test vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian.
“Any death on the road is terrible news,” Ford said. “And the recent accident involving a self-driving test vehicle has raised serious questions for all of us working in the field. We are confident in our safety processes and procedures, which we’ve refined over decades of engineering and testing the vehicles we manufacture. We follow our proven safety strategies, including extensive computer simulations and driving on closed-course tracks, before we allow any self-driving test vehicles on public roads. ”
It also explained that its test drivers are highly trained and only ever operate in teams of two. While that’s supposed to make us feel better, it’s really only the driver who has to drop the ball for tragedy to occur. We also know that the mere existence of advanced driving aids automatically make a driver passive and less alert, while dulling their skills. That’s probably the best argument for remove the steering wheel and pedals. But it also illustrates the dangers of an autonomous system that’s anything less than perfect.
Another safety concern revolves around automotive data. We already know Ford and GM want to capture consumer data for sale to third parties and proprietary in-car applications, but they also need it to hone the skills of self-driving vehicles. Either way, automaker have to implement full-time connectivity to keep the data flowing. But that opens up cars and customers to potential vulnerabilities.
“Ford has sought to mitigate these inherent vulnerabilities by building security into the heart of our System Safety process,” the report reassured. “Our cybersecurity strategy extends not only to the vehicles’ electronics, sensors and Virtual Driver System but also to any feature connected to them, such as data ports, mobile apps and customer service systems.”
In an impressive bit of candor, the automaker acknowledges there is no such thing as perfect security. Ford promised to simply do its best and take every precaution to ensure a safe exchange of digital information.
There’s more, including interesting studies conducted on how the public interacts with autonomous vehicles (we recommend you check it out). Overall, we like Ford’s approach to AVs more than most other automakers, as the automaker’s more or less a straight shooter. And it appears Ford’s looking at the issue from all angles. Still, it represents a push towards a future we’re not incredibly fond of — and one that half of the public seems skeptical of.
[Image: Ford Motor Co.]
Another nail in the coffin for driving enthusiasts, if it comes to pass. Line up to get yer autono-blobs right here, folks…
I hope these AVs aren’t let loose anywhere close to where I drive. I don’t trust Ford to get this right.
“such as using self-driving vehicles for a ride-hailing service within a specifically-defined area of a city and only when the weather is good enough for the sensors to work properly.”
That is one of the most fail-full sentences I’ve ever read. Limited geographical area – self-defeating from the beginning. Limited to ride-hailing services? Instant money loser. Only operates in perfect weather? So less useful than the Model T they were building 100 years ago. Reliance on sensors over connectivity? Dead end technology.
“We follow our proven safety strategies”
– A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don’t do one.
It’s part of the progression. Level 4 is a step to eventually get to Level 5.
“Ford keen on ditching the steering wheel”.
Response, “Drivers keen on ditching Ford vehicles.”
Fail – it is for riders not drivers.
“But Ford also said it intends to launch an AV in 2021 that lacks a steering wheel or pedals.”
The Model T gave added independence and control to millions of Americans, and they loved it.
The 2021 Ford AV will remove independence and control, and Americans will hate it.
Technology challenges aside, this is a very real cultural hurdle that can’t be overcome.
I look forward to it. At some point, I won’t be able to drive, but still desire the independence. My parents are much closer.
Remove independence? AVs stand to widen the number of Americans who have access to independent mobility substantially. Grandma won’t need to hand over the keys as readily, and the disabled will be able to move around without needing half-measure modifications to conventional vehicles.
Today, the elderly and disabled are frequently reliant on friends, family, and caretakers. This not only has a cost to those helpers, but is also a pretty serious psychological cost to the helped. With an AV, they don’t have to call a friend, or a cab, to go to the grocery store, or the hair salon, or church, or school, or any of the dozens of things you do every month without thought or question.
AVs are going to do a lot of things in the long run, but remove independence is not one of them.
While Ford deserves credit for admitting to its AVs limitations, its solution is a cop out. They just won’t go there at least not until the technology is ready. That means they are limited to paved roads with clearly visible markings not worn off or covered by dirt or snow. You still need a real car for when road conditions fall below the AV’s minimums. That will be all the time if you live on a gravel road out in the country and your driveway is a couple of ruts with grass growing in the middle.
I don’t understand AV developers’ insistence on doing away with human controls when so much of the country will be inaccessible to their products. Run AVs autonomously where the infrastructure is good enough but keep manual controls for where it’s not.
What most of the OEMs have found is that the wet-ware is more or less totally incapable of handling a graceful hand-off from the autonomous system without tremendous amounts of effort. GM’s Supercruise system puts an extreme amount of effort into driver monitoring. Ford decided to bow out of the nebulous Level 2/3 game that has gotten Tesla in such hot water.
Now, the whole point of what Ford is doing here is running the AV in the real world (with weather, pavement, and geofenced limitations) to be a stepping stone to a more advanced and capable model. You don’t learn to sprint when you’re 2. And by having a largely corporate owned rideshare on geofenced areas in good weather, you can learn a lot about how to make the Gen 2 or 3 autonomous vehicles that can start handling bad weather.
It isn’t so much ditching the steering wheel, as it is eliminating cost by removing the useless thing that’s only in the way of the left front passenger anyway.
Texting will be much more comfortable now for that guy.
I will never give in to this crap.
My, what a hot take on an automotive enthusiast website. You’re so brave for putting that out there. I hope you can take the backlash you’ll inevitably receive.
You’re obviously someone who can’t take mild sarcasm. Also, not sure what autonomous vehicles has to do with being an auto enthusiast.
This car has no steering wheel and Hackett has no brain. This technology will never see the light if day.
Personally I don’t like the idea of not being involved in driving, but I believe there is a market for it. My dad is 87 and can no longer drive. He’d be all over a car that did it for him. I just don’t want the automakers and media shoving this down everybody’s throat trying to make it seem that this is what we are all asking for.
“And the recent accident involving a self-driving test vehicle has raised serious questions for all of us working in the field. We are confident in our safety processes and procedures, which we’ve refined over decades of engineering and testing the vehicles we manufacture. We follow our proven safety strategies, including extensive computer simulations and driving on closed-course tracks, before we allow any self-driving test vehicles on public roads. ”
THIS is the major difference between a legacy automaker developing autonomous tech and newer companies like Tesla, Uber, etc. The decades of institutional knowledge and well developed R&D procedures.
Automakers need to put new focus on crash structures. So far the major crashes with autonomous driving tech has been the inability of the vehicles to recognize an obstruction and brake, so we will be seeing more crashes at full velocity, where a human driver -even distracted – would at least have attempted to brake at the last second.
There is a future for smaller autonomous vehicles. Small and sleek enough for the person behind the steering wheel to still have a feel for the vehicle’s outer dimensions. Cause that person will be responsible for a very-very long time to come. Also small/sleek enough to be able to nimbly evade other road users, particularly the weaker ones in dense city traffic. Expecting SUVs, which already tend to isolate the driver from the whole driving experience, to self-drive is just asking for trouble.