US federal safety regulators have “upgraded” their investigation into Ford’s advanced driver assistance system called BlueCruise – a step required before it can be issued. The National Highway Traffic Administration’s Office of Defect Investigation launched an investigation into Ford BlueCruise last April after the agency confirmed the system was active in a Ford Mustang Mach E vehicle involved in two fatal crashes. In both cases, the Mustang Mach E crashed into a stationary vehicle. NHTSA issued a notice this week that it has upgraded its investigation to an engineering analysis. This means that the agency will dig deeper into BlueCruise and its potential limitations, which includes evaluating the vehicle, reviewing additional technical information, and conducting additional analysis of related accident and non-accident reports. About 129,222 Ford Mustang Mach E vehicles are equipped with BlueCruise, according to regulators. A Ford spokesperson told TechCrunch that the automaker is working with NHTSA to support the investigation. The agency said preliminary investigations found BlueCruise has limitations in “stationary vehicle detection under certain conditions.” These limitations include the potential to falsely detect a stationary object at a distance when the Ford vehicle is traveling at speeds of 62 miles per hour or more. “Additionally, system performance may be limited when visibility is low due to insufficient illumination,” NHTSA said. Ford is debuting BlueCruise in 2021 on the 2021 F-150 pickup truck and certain 2021 Mustang Mach-E models. The hands-free feature uses a camera, radar sensor, and software to provide a combination of adaptive cruise control, lane centering, and speed sign recognition. GM’s rival BlueCruise and Super Cruise systems are both hands-free, though a camera in the cabin monitors the driver to make sure his eyes are on the road. This system is considered a competitor to Tesla Autopilot, which still requires the driver’s hands to stay on the wheel. Autopilot and Tesla’s upgraded Full Self-Driving software are still considered less restrictive than Ford’s BlueCruise, which only works on pre-mapped highways. Last October, NHTSA also opened an investigation into Tesla’s so-called “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” software after four accidents were reported in low visibility conditions – including one in which a pedestrian was killed. The investigation is ongoing. This article has been updated to include comments from Ford.
