After consistently declining for 30 years, roadway fatalities in the U.S. have risen over the past decade.
Fatalities jumped to nearly 35,000 in 2015, an 8% increase from the year prior, and rose another 6.5% the following year, according to U.S. Transportation Department data. Fatalities peaked in 2021 at 43,230, representing a 10.8% year-over-year increase from the previous year.
For more than a decade, futurists have looked to autonomous vehicles as a solution to the growing issue, but there are varying levels of automation.
The Society of Automotive Engineers considers advanced driver assistance systems, such as GM Super Cruise and Tesla Full Self-Driving, to be Level 2 automation, which requires full driver engagement.
Anything Level 3 and above is considered truly “autonomous.” This means that no human intervention is required when the system activates features such as lane assist and automatic braking. However, the system must be enabled by a present driver who must take over when asked to. J.D. Power lists Mercedes’ Drive Pilot as a Level 3 system.
While Tesla has hung its hat on FSD being the best advanced driver assistance program available, at least in the U.S., there is a new contender entering the arena that could surpass FSD.
Ford announces plan to offer Level 3 driving by 2028
Ford says that it is working on an advanced driver assistance system that will allow users to take their hands and eyes off the road while operating on certain highways.
Currently, FSD (Supervised) and similar programs require the driver to pay attention to the road and intervene should the system fail. However, Level 3 autonomy offers the driver the luxury of essentially being a passenger in the vehicle.
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Ford says its program will be able to do just that.
The tech will be available on Ford’s new electric vehicle platform with plans to expand to other vehicles in the future. The first model on that platform is scheduled to be a midsize EV truck launching in 2027, according to Reuters, but Ford did not confirm that that would be the inaugural vehicle with the technology, which is set to debut in 2028.
Doug Field, Ford’s chief EV, digital, and design officer, told Reuters that the Level 3 system would not come standard on the new line of $30,000 EVs, but would be available for an additional fee that has yet to be determined.
“We’re also learning a lot about the business model. Should it be a subscription? Should you pay for it all at the beginning? We’re focused right now on making it super affordable, and we’re very excited about that. We have time to establish the pricing for it,” he said.
Ford will use lidar in its system, a technology that Elon Musk has described as too expensive to be feasible for Tesla.
Ford enters tough race for autonomy crown
The race for a truly autonomous driving experience has been ongoing for years.
While Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made bold claims about how his company would dominate autonomous driving by 2025, the autonomous driving crown is still very much up in the air.
“I think we will probably have autonomous ride-hailing in probably half the population of the U.S. by the end of the year,” Musk said during the opening remarks of the company’s second-quarter earnings call weeks later in July.
The company only has a few dozen Robotaxis operating nationwide.
Alphabet-backed Robotaxi rival Waymo is also a contender for the crown.
In July, the company celebrated driving 96 million fully autonomous miles. Waymo had reported traveling 71 million miles autonomously in March after reaching 50 million at the end of 2024.
Waymo has approximately 800 autonomous vehicles operating in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to data the company shared with the San Francisco Examiner in August.
In April, Waymo said it was delivering over 250,000 paid rides per week in the U.S., a big jump from the 200,000 it reported in February.
Finally, there is Amazon-backed Zoox, which this year announced plans to offer free ride-hailing services in San Francisco for the first time through its Zoox Explorers early rider program.
There are also numerous smaller startups and boutique operations, but those three are the big dogs in the space right now.
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