Ford has announced new research designed to drive innovation in both mobility and autonomous vehicles, and also to help solve future transportation challenges around the globe. The manufacturer will contribute to the government-sponsored UK Autodrive initiative, which is currently researching ways of integrating driverless and connected cars into day-to-day life. æThey will be working alongside other manufacturers to help study the different ways in which new technology can be integrated.æ They will also work to provide two prototype cars with vehicle-to-vehicle communication in order to test the effectiveness of an innovative public transport system. It's believed that vehicle-to-vehicle connective technologies will contribute substantially to the development of autonomous vehicles around the world. A number of Ford's vehicles already have a number of semi-autonomous features including land keeping aids, adaptive cruise control, pre-collision assist, pedestrian detection and active park and traffic jam assists. Further development is being carried out on the idea of a full fleet of Ford Fusion Hybrid research vehicles, with the manufacturer now shifting the idea of autonomous vehicles from research into vehicle development. Another area of focus from Ford is the Personal Mobility Experience Innovation project, which will bring together a number of experts from the Ford world in order to study business models from different industries to learn how they could be applied to the automotive industry. The project will also be charged with identifying how approaches from companies like Apple and Amazon can be used to deliver enhanced car-ownership experiences. Pim van der Jagt, executive technical leader for Ford Research and Advanced Engineering, said: 'This is an exciting time because while we are confronting real challenges to mobility as the world becomes more crowded and urbanised, we are also in the midst of a technological sea change that will help us find solutions, 'This project is about tapping into the best thinking from other industries and sectors to deliver new mobility solutions.î
