Ford’s are adding new ADAS offerings including Active Drive Assist, which allows hands-free driving on more than 160,000 km of divided highways mapped in all 50 U.S. states and Canada.
Active Drive Assist is the next evolution of Ford’s Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control with Lane Centring, adding Ford’s first no-hands mode with the potential for more enhancements in the future.
The hands-free mode allows drivers on certain sections of pre-mapped, divided highways to drive with their hands off the steering wheel—if they keep their attention on the road—granting them an additional level of comfort during long drives. An advanced infrared driver-facing camera will track eye gaze and head position to ensure drivers are paying attention to the road while in hands-free mode as well as hands-on lane centring mode, which works on any road with lane lines. Drivers will be notified by visual prompts on their instrument cluster when they need to return their attention to the road or resume control of the vehicle. Active Drive Assist will be available on certain 2021 model year Ford vehicles and will be available across the Mustang Mach-E lineup.
The updated lanekeeping system joins Automatic headlight high/low beam selection (ADB is still not allowed in the United States) in Ford’s Copilot 360 2.0 package on the Mustang Mach-E, along with Blind Spot Information System with Cross-Traffic Alert, Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking, Post-Collision Braking, and Rear View Camera.