Ford Says Its Driverless Cars Will Hit the Road by 2021

DEARBORN, MI — The Ford Motor Company announced on Tuesday its intention to have a fully functional and safe driverless car on the road by 2021.

The vehicles, which will not have a steering wheel or pedals for acceleration and braking, will be marketed to major cities for ride sharing at first, but will help provide greater mobility to the disabled and elderly that similar autonomous programs cannot.

“The next decade will be defined by automation of the automobile, and we see autonomous vehicles as having as significant an impact on society as Ford’s moving assembly line did 100 years ago,” Ford President and CEO Mark Fields said in a statement. “We’re dedicated to putting on the road an autonomous vehicle that can improve safety and solve social and environmental challenges for millions of people – not just those who can afford luxury vehicles."

Last year, Tesla unveiled its computer-controlled driverless car that uses an autopilot system, that while trendy, still required a level of driving skill.

Within a year of the Tesla announcement, the autopilot system resulted in several crashes and one traffic fatality.

In May, Auburn Hills-based Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced it was equipping Pacifica minivans with Google’s self-driving car technology that came as a result of a deal between the two companies.

Currently, Detroit-based General Motors is working on technology similar to Tesla’s it is calling Super Cruise. However, in January, the automaker announced it was delaying the introduction of the new feature on the Cadillac CT6 until the 2017 models are introduced later this year.

“Super Cruise breaks new ground with true hands-free capability for the highway and will be introduced in 2017,” GM said in a statement. “Getting the technology right and doing it safely is most important, so the exact month of introduction cannot be announced at this time.”

While the other automakers have been first, Ford was hardly coming from behind in the race to build a quality driverless vehicle.

In fact, Ford has been working toward making this technology a reality for more than a decade.

“Ford has been developing and testing autonomous vehicles for more than 10 years,” Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, Global Product Development, and chief technical officer, said in a statement.

“We have a strategic advantage because of our ability to combine the software and sensing technology with the sophisticated engineering necessary to manufacture high-quality vehicles,” he said. “That is what it takes to make autonomous vehicles a reality for millions of people around the world.”

To make this leap to 2021 possible, Ford made significant investments with four key contributors to ensure the technology is sound and expanded the company’s workforce in California’s Silicon Valley.

The driverless car will incorporate laser radar navigation technology, known as LIDAR; 3-D mapping technology through its investment with Berkeley-based Civil Maps; acquired SAIPS machine-learning software; and the carmaker entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Nirenberg Neuroscience for software that experts say mimics human intelligence.

“Our presence in Silicon Valley has been integral to accelerating our learning and deliverables driving Ford Smart Mobility,” Ken Washington, Ford vice president, Research and Advanced Engineering, said in a statement. “Our goal was to become a member of the community. Today, we are actively working with more than 40 startups, and have developed a strong collaboration with many incubators, allowing us to accelerate development of technologies and services.”