Here's an interesting article from Car & Driver http://blog.caranddriver.com/ford-promises-fully-autonomous-cars-by-2021/ about Ford's plans for the near future,this should be happening within 5 years from now. They intend to produce fully autonomous vehicles for ride-hailing (Taxi's),shuttles,parcel deliveries & ride sharing operations which will be manufactured in high volume production which won't contain steering wheels,brake pedals or other controls for human occupants. 

Ford state that it's autonomous vehicles will achieve a level 4 rating which is one step below level 5 which offers complete autonomy in every conceivable driving situation,Tesla's Autopilot is almost but not quite at level 3. Developments are advanced with regards to investment with four startup Companies that will refine & support the Company's knowledge of the sensors & algorithms which are critical to making autonomous technology work. It is also increasing it's investment in a company that develops high resolution maps & another that specialises in object recognition bringing human-like levels of intelligence to machine modules. 

The vehicles could support electric batteries but they won't divulge any powertrain details until closer to the launch date,Ford currently operates a fleet of hybrid Fusions in Michigan,California & Arizona. That test fleet has tripled in size from 10 to 30 cars in 2016 & they anticipate the test fleet to triple again by the end of 2017. 

 

 

Now I know they're supposed to be safer and everything else, but there is no way I'd happily get in one, not unless it had its own preprogrammed route for its own preprogrammed type of vehicle  (like tram rails). Other than that nuh-uh *shakes head*

never happen in our congested bendy roads with roundabouts etc. may be ok on the grid style roads of usa citys though. i still wouldnt want to trust the technology to keep me safe.

Not going to get me in one of these new fangeld auto mobiles. No way.

Pretty sure people said the same about those dangerous horseless carriages 100 years ago!  

In theory they should be fine, new cars already use similar systems for active cruise control and collision avoidance.  But I hate being a passenger with a person driving, let alone a computer driving!  

"The 2021 Ford will be fully auto......."

 

thats good news , it means the car can drive itself back to the dealership for any warranty repairs so i dont have to deal with the goons at the front service desk.....

 

;-)

they need to concentrate on getting existing technology to work on the current cars , let alone introduce more !!

6 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Pretty sure people said the same about those dangerous horseless carriages 100 years ago!  

In theory they should be fine, new cars already use similar systems for active cruise control and collision avoidance.  But I hate being a passenger with a person driving, let alone a computer driving!  

at least you wont have to make polite conversation to a computer, well i hope not. 

5 hours ago, iantt said:

at least you wont have to make polite conversation to a computer,

It will probably be programmed so that if you are rude to it, or say naughty words, it will stop (at the first safe place, of course), and demand an apology before it will go again. Or drive you straight to the garage, and demand a replacement owner.

More seriously: Complex systems + complex software + multi-level redundancy + high integrity safety requirements + Ford Motor Company + Ford Dealerships = Complete Chaos!

Fat chance!

 

14 hours ago, laumk7 said:

Now I know they're supposed to be safer and everything else, but there is no way I'd happily get in one, not unless it had its own preprogrammed route for its own preprogrammed type of vehicle  (like tram rails). Other than that nuh-uh *shakes head*

Funny you should mention tram rails,Finland don't require vehicles on it's roads to have a driver! There is an experiment in Helsinki which presents a challenge because the autonomous buses have to deal with everyday traffic but the buses can't travel at more than 10kmph/6.2mph;

Many of the above Members comments & concerns mirror my own thoughts,the issues that Tesla have are well reported by the media. This technology (and possibly other groundbreaking ideas not yet in the published public domain) will be with us maybe sooner than 2021. Huge Multi-National Companies have already invested vast Millions as well as many Governments supporting them as well.

It's how we accept this new technology which will be interesting which is why i originally created this thread,younger people approaching their driving tests will take this new technology for granted but it's all going to new for the rest of us. Even now modern cars are deemed uneconomic to repair due to the high cost of replacement ecu's,electric steering racks,adaptive headlights (yes i'm looking at you Mr BMW),dynamic suspension controllers etc,etc so how much will it cost to repair all this autonomous software when it fails & at what cost?