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 Centering, 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 centering 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 interface will use an animation of a steering wheel with the driver’s hands, and a graphic of a protective bubble surrounding the car.
It’s part of an all-digital instrument cluster, available on the Mustang since 2018, which received as well a German Design Award for “virtual pleasantly familiar fittings—as modern as their current appearance may be—look”, and “new functions and settings which have been added for contemporary driving pleasure”.
