Ford Announces the Start of an Autonomous Car Ride Service in 2021

November 15, 2018 – In just over two years time Ford Motor Company intends to launch a ride-sharing autonomous vehicle (AV) service “at scale.” The company is talking about putting tens of thousands of Ford AV cars on the road. To do this it is investing $4 billion by 2023 to not only build the vehicles but also fleet management software, dispatch, routing, and payment systems in support of the new venture.

To make inroads into the AV realm Ford purchased a majority stake in an autonomous vehicle artificial intelligence (AI) company, Argo AI, headquartered in Pittsburgh. ArgoAI has put its technology in vehicles doing pizza delivery for Domino’s, The company is testing its technology by partnering with Domino’s, parcel delivery for PostMates, and most recently has inked a service delivery contract with Walmart.

Currently, all test vehicles have human drivers backing up the AI systems. But when Ford launches its service the drivers will no longer be necessary. Nor will the cars have steering wheels, gas, or brake pedals. Ford’s AV won’t be a modified version of one of its existing models such as the one depicted in the picture below. Instead, this will be an entirely new model incorporating AV technology into every aspect of the design. The plan is to configure models for passenger, cargo, food delivery, and other services. Besides the onboard software, the AV will include a sensor array with lidar, radar, and multiple cameras.

As Ford imagines the uses for its AV it sees consumers eventually calling up a vehicle through a mobile app. going to places, using it to order and deliver groceries, having it pickup restaurant orders, and anything else that customers might find a useful service. Ford wants to learn from its customers what they would like an AV service to provide and, in time, anticipate their needs.

In the latest demonstration of its technology, Ford took reporters on a trip through the crowded streets of Miami. One passenger described the journey as the most complex scenario he had ever experienced in an autonomous vehicle.

Andrew Hawkins, writing for the Verge, states, “I’ve ridden in about a dozen autonomous vehicles in a variety of settings over the past three years, and this was one of the most complex….I’ve ever seen an AV navigate. I’ve been an AV passenger in San Francisco, Mountain View, Las Vegas, Detroit, and Pittsburgh, but nothing like Miami — cars and trucks and candy-colored mopeds jockeying for space with bicycles, scooters, and old ladies with laundry-filled pushcarts. Despite the heat, it’s the type of environment that would make most AV operators break out in a cold sweat.”

Hawkins describes the ride as “a marvel,” with the vehicle navigating construction zones, left-hand turns, lane markers, intersections, and pedestrians. The only time the human driver had to take over happened when a passing truck caused a road dust cloud. The human driver pointed out that there was no attempt to game the system and that the demonstration was authentic.

Ford’s spokesperson at the demonstration indicated that of the 2,000 incorporated features to its autonomous vehicle technology, the company has already perfected 1,800. The 200 remaining include road dust clouds. You can imagine that falling snow, as well as snow on the ground and roads, could be among the remaining items. Ford has worked on solving snow since 2016 and is developing what it calls vehicle“snowtonomy.”

Ford has committed $4 billion through 2023 for its autonomous vehicle service and has turned a vacant Detroit century-old office tower into a new headquarters for electric and AI-driven cars. The company estimates the market for AVs to grow to $330 billion by 2026.