By Sammy Omari, Executive Director Advanced Driver Assist System Technologies (ADAS), Ford Motor Company
Imagine you are driving on the highway using Ford BlueCruise* set to the 70 mph speed limit, but the semi-truck in front of you is traveling at 55 mph. Now, our latest version of BlueCruise hands-free highway driving software can smoothly and seamlessly initiate a hands-free lane change to pass slower moving traffic and keep you driving hands-free at your preferred speed.
This is possible because of an all-new BlueCruise 1.5 feature, Automatic Lane Change, developed by our Ford Advanced Driver Assistance (ADAS) team to help make hands-free highway driving even better. It will help you stay engaged longer in hands-free mode than prior versions and keep you moving through traffic.
For example, BlueCruise 1.5 is designed to facilitate a smooth and natural drive experience, meaning it will try to avoid merging with traffic moving much faster than your vehicle. It can also avoid moving the vehicle into the right-hand lane where off-ramps and inconsistent lane markings are present or merging with traffic that requires you to put your hands back on the wheel.
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This increases the amount of time you can spend driving hands-free without interruption. We found in our internal testing, on an average drive, BlueCruise 1.5 will automate up to 45% of lane changes.
Here is how it works:
- BlueCruise can perform a single lane change when it detects a clear adjacent lane and there is enough time to perform the maneuver smoothly.
- Before BlueCruise makes an automatic lane change, a visual and audio prompt will alert the driver that a lane change is about to occur. A reason for making the maneuver will also be displayed in the driver’s information display screen in front of the steering wheel, like if the vehicle is changing lanes for slower moving traffic or to move out of a passing lane.
- A hands-free lane change will automatically occur unless you tap the turn signal in the opposite direction of the planned lane change or hold the steering wheel in place.
If you’re not comfortable with Automatic Lane Change, you can disable it in the Driver Assistance settings.
BlueCruise Software Progress on Mustang Mach-E
We first introduced BlueCruise hands-free highway driving on the Mustang Mach-E, and since then we have continued to learn, develop, and iterate to create the best possible hands-free highway driving experience for owners.
After rolling out BlueCruise 1.0 from the factory, we launched BlueCruise 1.2 with new features and then BlueCruise 1.3 with performance improvements around curves and in narrow lanes. Now, we are launching BlueCruise 1.5 on the 2025 Mustang Mach-E. In addition to Automatic Lane Change, 2025 Mustang Mach-E owners will experience improvements to hands-free highway driving time in a variety of conditions delivered on BlueCruise 1.4.
2025 Mustang Mach-E customers will be among the first to experience BlueCruise 1.5. We will have more to share in the future around which vehicles and model years will receive BlueCruise 1.5.
Last year in the U.S., about 77% of BlueCruise trips taken were under 20 minutes. And for highway trips longer than one hour, such as road trips, BlueCruise was used more than 50% of the time. Whether people are using it on their daily commute, taking long road trips on the weekend, or during the holidays, BlueCruise is helping make highway drive time easier and more enjoyable.
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*Available Feature. Equipped Ford vehicles come with either a complimentary trial period or an included duration, after which purchase of a BlueCruise subscription is required. Modem activation is required for subscription purchase and for initial activation of BlueCruise (for pre-2024 model year vehicles). See ford.com/bluecruise for details. BlueCruise is a driver-assist feature and does not replace safe driving or driver’s attention, judgment or need to control the vehicle. Only remove hands in a Hands-Free Blue Zone. Always watch the road and be prepared to resume control. See Owner’s Manual for details and limitations.