What is the point of BlueCruise?

[ARK]

Before I used handsfree BlueCruise, I would have agreed with you. In theory it seems pointless to not use your hands if you have to pay attention to the road anyway.

But in practice, I can say there is in fact a notable difference between the two. You simply don’t need to be on as high level of alert when handsfree mode is on and if you drive for long stretches, it does make a difference.

Only you can say if the benefit is worth the cost to you though. If you regularly use cruise control, I recommend you try it out for a month.

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[AZBill]

I was able to get the 3 years for $600 deal and it is worth it at that price ($17/mo). Just did a road trip this weekend and used it 95% of the trip. At $50 per month I would not renew, since I have a GM vehicle with SuperCruise and it is only $25 per month once my 3 year free trial is up. The GM system is more advanced than BlueCruise and has way more mapped roads as well.

 

[music_cities]

With ACC and LKA, the only difference BlueCruise offers is that you can be completely handsfree. But even so, you're supposed to pay attention to the road and for your safety, you shouldn't be hands free for long anyways. ACC/LKA can also resume automatically on highways during standstill traffic. I guess with the new BC, it can automatically change lanes too but I'm not sure I would even use that feature. What am I missing?

BlueCruise is looking forward ahead and is more aware of what's happening with other cars. It's more predictive than reactive (as compared to ACC/LKA). There's a bigger difference than just "hands free".

My wife insists I keep my hands on the wheel when she's in the passenger seat, so I have a lot of experience driving with a hand on the wheel in both "BlueCruise Hands Free" mode and when it kicks back into and out of regularly ACC/LKA. As soon as the screen gives up that blue background and turns off the "Hands Free" icon I have to focus more on the immediate monitoring and as a result I don't have the same mental bandwidth to observe and predict what other drivers are doing.

In other words, whether or not my hands are on the wheel, once the Bluecruise "Hands Free" icon comes in, I can take a higher-level view of driving, which is an advantage in itself, but also contributes less to fatigue.

 

[tbrumleve]

Simple, like most things in life, if you don’t like it / want it, don’t buy it. You have the option. Would you like Ford charging $10k or more (like a Te$la “Dollar Store Lambo) just to lie to you about the features? That’s the worst example of what BC could have been. I appreciate the option (yes, I know Elmo offers monthly, but that’s recent).

 

[celestial_knight]

I was able to get the 3 years for $600 deal and it is worth it at that price ($17/mo). Just did a road trip this weekend and used it 95% of the trip. At $50 per month I would not renew, since I have a GM vehicle with SuperCruise and it is only $25 per month once my 3 year free trial is up. The GM system is more advanced than BlueCruise and has way more mapped roads as well.

Blue Cruise 1.5 is incredible, and so is its unmapped lane keeping. Ford is top tier with Tesla and Mercedes. Unfortunately, you need newer hardware to run it

EDIT I should specify I’m including unmapped performance. Emphasizing unmapped performance it really becomes Tesla Hyundai Ford, or Hyundai Ford BMW, if Tesla is without FSD

I would never get anything GM as they are hopeless on unmapped roads. That is finally changing next year, but the new capabilities that are being tested are still not yet on the level of modern Ford

 

[ChrisO]

BlueCruise is looking forward ahead and is more aware of what's happening with other cars. It's more predictive than reactive (as compared to ACC/LKA). There's a bigger difference than just "hands free".

My wife insists I keep my hands on the wheel when she's in the passenger seat, so I have a lot of experience driving with a hand on the wheel in both "BlueCruise Hands Free" mode and when it kicks back into and out of regularly ACC/LKA. As soon as the screen gives up that blue background and turns off the "Hands Free" icon I have to focus more on the immediate monitoring and as a result I don't have the same mental bandwidth to observe and predict what other drivers are doing.

In other words, whether or not my hands are on the wheel, once the Bluecruise "Hands Free" icon comes in, I can take a higher-level view of driving, which is an advantage in itself, but also contributes less to fatigue.

That is a very good point I didn’t think about. Adaptive cruise control is radar only, BlueCruise includes cues from the cameras.

 

[AZBill]

I would never get anything GM as they are hopeless on unmapped roads. That is finally changing next year, but the new capabilities that are being tested are still not yet on the level of modern Ford

By the end of this year GM will have 1.2M miles of mapped roads, including local roads, and they work on 2 lane highways as well as when towing. Ford has 130k miles mapped, way behind.

GM system is far more advanced:

1) Includes hands free towing
2) Moves over for merging traffic
3) Works on interchanges
4) Moves over for disabled vehicles
5) Does not drop hands free for on/off ramps (my Mach E does this all the time)
6) Will soon link automatic lane changes to navigation
7) Will soon have hands on steering, unmapped roads
8) Already works hands free on 2 lane highways and local 2 lane roads (I have used it on local roads with 35-45mph speed limits)
9) Has much better messages as to why it drops in certain areas (basically Ford has nothing, it just says take control)
10) Shows SuperCruise capable roads on the native Google maps display

Just as an example, if I go from Phoenix to Vegas, SuperCrusie works on 90% of the trip, BlueCruise works on 25%.

 

[Blitzen]

With ACC and LKA, the only difference BlueCruise offers is that you can be completely handsfree. But even so, you're supposed to pay attention to the road and for your safety, you shouldn't be hands free for long anyways. ACC/LKA can also resume automatically on highways during standstill traffic. I guess with the new BC, it can automatically change lanes too but I'm not sure I would even use that feature. What am I missing?

It depends a lot on the kind of driving you do and how comfortable you are with it. Everybody should start out not trusting it and build confidence in it over time. It took me about a year to get fully confident and overall I'm really impressed. It is not safer by itself but with the driver watching what's going on, I'm pretty confident the stats will prove that there are fewer incidents. It really works well for long drives in areas where there isn't much traffic.

 

[SonicBlue]

BlueCruise is looking forward ahead and is more aware of what's happening with other cars. It's more predictive than reactive (as compared to ACC/LKA). There's a bigger difference than just "hands free".

My wife insists I keep my hands on the wheel when she's in the passenger seat, so I have a lot of experience driving with a hand on the wheel in both "BlueCruise Hands Free" mode and when it kicks back into and out of regularly ACC/LKA. As soon as the screen gives up that blue background and turns off the "Hands Free" icon I have to focus more on the immediate monitoring and as a result I don't have the same mental bandwidth to observe and predict what other drivers are doing.

In other words, whether or not my hands are on the wheel, once the Bluecruise "Hands Free" icon comes in, I can take a higher-level view of driving, which is an advantage in itself, but also contributes less to fatigue.

I don’t believe there is any evidence whatsoever that “hands off” BC1.0-1.4 provides superior LC or ACC to the standard “hands on” BC. If I’m wrong, please site the evidence. In my testing I saw zero difference in functionality.

I can’t speak to 1.5 because my car doesn’t have the hardware for that.

Also, there have been a few references to subscriptions paying for updates to mapping. Again, there is zero evidence that the mapping has any impact on accuracy of LC. The mapping only provides geofences for where “hands off” BC may be used - divided highways.

I’m not looking down my nose at LC/ACC tech. I think it’s marvelous. But “hands off” BC just swaps an eye nanny for a hand nanny (which in and of itself works surprisingly well). BC1.3 also provides assisted lane changes which is technologically pretty cool but frankly not all that helpful. Maybe BC1.5 is where things actually get a lot better. Dunno.

 

[lightningandmache]

BlueCruise is looking forward ahead and is more aware of what's happening with other cars. It's more predictive than reactive (as compared to ACC/LKA). There's a bigger difference than just "hands free".

Are we sure about that? I've never seen it mentioned by Ford. I'm not sure I've noticed a difference. Can you give me some examples so I can watch for them?

 

[Sikkun]

It used to exist so all the people who claim they would never use it could post everyday about how they are mad they haven’t received 1.3 update. But now that they have we don’t hear about it much anymore around here.

 

[SummerlinBob]

Reading the posts, my conclusion is that it comes down to personal preference. I had it on my 2021 and when I paid $600 to extend it after the trial period and then traded in the 21 for a 23 and Ford refused to transfer the BC, I didn't get it on the 23 and I haven't missed it.

 

[djstough]

There are times when BC turns off all of a sudden and I would want to make sure my hands are already on the steering wheel.

I have not experienced it turning off all of a sudden. I have experienced it give warning to take control, or be prepared to take control. But I have driven thousands of miles letting BC do most of the work.

 

[Snakebitten]

It depends a lot on the kind of driving you do and how comfortable you are with it. Everybody should start out not trusting it and build confidence in it over time. It took me about a year to get fully confident and overall I'm really impressed. It is not safer by itself but with the driver watching what's going on, I'm pretty confident the stats will prove that there are fewer incidents. It really works well for long drives in areas where there isn't much traffic.

Well said.
I was sceptical, but after I got 1.4 in my truck in January of 2024, I became the ideal candidate for the perfect conditions for Bluecruise to perform almost flawlessly.
I occasionally make a run from Texas to the Atlantic coast all on Interstate 10 east/west. And I prefer driving at night, which diminishes traffic as well as increases the contrast in road markings.

I can literally go hours without physical input for steering or foot pedals.

Admittedly it's best case scenario for the technology, but it makes crunching miles far less taxing. I rather enjoy it.

 

[CameraCarl]

You can't sing "we will, we will rock you" and clap along with the music if you don't have Blue Cruise.

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