How reliable is adaptive cruise control?

[BatteriesIncluded]

Also if you accelerate it will resume most of the time but I don't think in all cases

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[Mach1E]

What could I possibly gain by making a fake post about this

Depends on how much Elon pays for this kinda content. ?

 

[Snakebitten]

All I can say is that Adaptive Cruise works so well in my Mach-E and F150, that I miss it terribly when using regular cruise control in my other vehicles.

 

[devmach-e]

My experiance with adaptive cruise control is that it works very well 98% of the time. It copes with stop go traffic very well. Combined with lane centering the car nearly drives itself on motorways. Very impressed. I just wish it had a resume button after braking manually, instead of having to reset the speed. Much better than my 2018 V8 GT which dropped adaptive cruise below 30kph.

It does have a resume button. Left side of steering wheel. The rocker switch for changing the speed up/down also pushes in. Pushing in toggles cruise control off/on while a speed is set.

 

[Mach-Lee]

In particular, view this image. With standard adaptive cruise, the radar beam is the dark gray triangle. Because the beam is narrow, it cannot see cars in the adjacent lane. It will not see the car ahead of you until either of you are about halfway into the same lane. The radar beam stays locked on the car ahead of you, not to the side.

The only time the ADAS will see cars in adjacent lanes is when you are in a Blue Zone (e.g. on a protected access divided highway) and have the side arrows show up in the cluster to indicate automated lane changes are available (and you have active BlueCruise 1.2 or later). Only in that situation will it use the corner radars to check for cars in adjacent lanes before moving over. Not sure if you use the Lane Change Assist feature or not, but it will normally slow down and not change lanes until the area is clear.

I think you have unrealistic expectations that it can just see everything, you need to understand the limitations of the radar beam and technology. At highway speeds, it can only see cars directly ahead of you in your lane that are moving. If you are coming up on stopped cars, a sharp curve, or changing lanes (except HF BC active), you need to take over.

 

[Murray Wells]

It does have a resume button. Left side of steering wheel. The rocker switch for changing the speed up/down also pushes in. Pushing in toggles cruise control off/on while a speed is set.

Thanks David, life is a continuous learning experiance even at 74!

 

[Murray Wells]

I think if you push in that small middle button (used to toggle the speed + / - ) it will resume.

Thanks, I will try that next time. If all else fails read the handbook!

 

[Jimrpa]

There have been several incidents where the ACC has nearly got me in an accident. It usually happens when there is an obstacles appearing on the left, it just seems like it won't detect it. For example when I change to the left lane and there is a car there, it doesn't even slow down even though I would have done it already, so I take over. There was another time where the road curved to the right and the car seemed like it was going to head straight into the barrier. Do I just have high expectations for what it can do or should I take it in to get looked at?

I’ve been using it since I got the car and have had no issues. My Lincoln had an earlier version of the Ford ACC and was similarly bullet-proof. It just didn’t go to 0. It disengaged below 15 MPH

 

[stoopid]

Thanks, I will try that next time. If all else fails read the handbook!

I just used my cruise this morning and used it to resume, definitely works.

Or as they say in my line of work - RTFM.

 

[CT3]

it's better to drive the car yourself when there is sudden traffic, otherwise it works great with the distance setting set at "three" then
I relax.

 

[ChrisO]

I thought I would mention something about the difference between adaptive cruise control/lane assist and BlueCruise .

With lane assist, it is looking at the lane markers and trying to keep you in the lane. With adaptive cruise control, as the others have said it is either maintaining the speed you gave it or looking (with the radar sensors) at the car in front of you to slow down or speed up to maintain the distance you have set.

If you turn on your turn signal to the right, it basically turns off lane assist for that direction (but leaves it on for the left). That allows you to change the lane without fighting it. And again, as others have mentioned as far as adaptive cruise is concerned you are responsible for making sure that you are doing a safe lane change and have enough clearance for the cars in the other lane that you aren't right behind.

This is where BlueCruise is different. (Note I only know about 1.3 1.4 and 1.4 1.5, I don't know what the features are of 1.2 1.3 and below). With BlueCruise 1.3 you indicate with the turn signal and BlueCruise does the lane change. So, it is monitoring what is beside you (with the camera) and "sees more" than adapter cruise control. But I would certainly only try a pass on a straight road and be also not try to do it any kind of crowded traffic.

With BlueCruise 1.4 1.5 it will actually do the passing on its own.

Bottom line is that BlueCruise uses the camera and the radar sensors, adaptive cruise control only uses radar. And lane assist uses the camera, but only for looking at the lane markers, and is actually turned off for the indicated lane change (in that one direction).

 

[rhougey]

it's better to drive the car yourself when there is sudden traffic, otherwise it works great with the distance setting set at "three" then
I relax.

I keep the distance setting at “1”, and it seems about right. With “2” or “3”, you will likely have cars often moving over in front of you, causing sudden braking by the ACC. When coming up behind slower traffic, I make my lane change to the “fast lane” when the car I’m approaching appears in the center display.

 

[hybrid2bev]

With BlueCruise 1.4 it will actually do the passing on its own.

I think you mean BC 1.5 does fully automatic lane changes.

BC 1.3 and 1.4 have the same features but 1.4 does them better.

 

[ChrisO]

I think you mean BC 1.5 does fully automatic lane changes.

BC 1.3 and 1.4 have the same features but 1.4 does them better.

Oops, you are correct, for some reason I was thinking my 2024 Mach-E had Bluecruise 1.3, it has 1.4. And I just bumped up the number for the next version (which should have been 1.5 not 1.4) because knew that the next version has automatic lane changing.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Guss-E 2021]

After 47,000 miles, I can attest ACC and Bluecruise (now) are pretty darn reliable. However, they are definitely not flawless. I've learned the situations during which Sheeba will need my intervention.

But I've driven 40 miles in light rain only being forced to take the wheel for an interchange. This is on road seam laden Massachusetts highway (I-495 for those in my area) with sporadic stretches of construction and lane shifts at 70mph. Car handled it like a champ.

And I think ACC is a bit too cautious. Resuming the set speed after the car in front of me turns off the road takes too long. I always have to nudge the accelerator.

I've got BC for another year but ACC is what I use most. Glad that isn't something I have to pay for (so far).

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