Ford Mustang Mach-E, the all-electric crossover will be the first vehicle from the company to get ‘Active Drive Assist’ (hands-free driving) feature. Ford will introduce the hands-free driving feature only in the second half of 2021. Ford Mach-E will Go on sale by the end of this year, however, customers interested in ‘Active Drive Assist’ will have to purchase the ‘Active 2.0 Prep Package’, to ensure that the vehicle has the necessary hardware in the form of front-facing camera and radar sensors. Customers will also have to separately purchase the ‘Active Drive Assist’ feature next year and it will be available only after a software update.
Until the company rolls out the hands-free driving feature, customers will get Ford’s advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), known as CoPilot 360. This includes improved versions of features like adaptive cruise control, active park assist, lane centering, blind spot assist, and more. Ford will be introducing the hands-free feature six years after the Tesla and four years after General Motors introduced a similar technology.
For additional safety, the Mustang Mach-E also gets an infrared camera system in the steering wheel that ensures that the driver is paying attention to the road even when the hands-free mode is engaged. The ‘Active Drive Assist’ feature will be available on highways mapped by the company. It is believed that the company will have 1,00,000 miles (1,60,934 kms) of divided highways mapped across 50 states and Canada at the time of launch.
