BlueCruise v1 is a Let Down

itsthenewdc

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BlueCruise has potential to improve over time, but it's really only been advertised as a hands-free benefit to the existing cruise control options. Tesla first revealed FSD in 2014 and now costs $12,000 to add it on. That's a 7 year head start over the 2021 Mach-E vehicles. Give Ford half a decade and BlueCruise will be vastly better/improved, and most likely even cost more in the process.
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kltye

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Chiming in with another "works great for me" post. I live in the land of very bad road markings and roads, aka Chicago. Had zero problems driving up to Wisconsin and back. Stays engaged all the time, no ping pong. Only disengages when approaching an EZ Pass overhead thing (not sure what it's called, but we brand it as "open road tolling") and tight-ish curves. And yes, it does hug the right a bit too much, just like hands-on BC. Overall, it's made highway driving much more relaxing even compared to hands-on - I've even managed to eat a sandwich in peace with BC engaged :)
 

JohnFoxeSheets

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Yes hands free BlueCruise. I know once my car is upgraded it calls all adaptive cruise control/lane keeping BlueCruise, but when I say BlueCruise I mean the hands free version.

I drive on 280, 101, 880, and some other highways in the area.
BlueCruise is definitely very highway dependent. Those that have great experiences with it tend to drive either fairly straight highways or at least highways without a lot (or any) tight(ish) turns. When I drive to/from SF on 280 the first few miles HF is on and off multiple times - sometimes a stupid number of times. HF-BC works really well on much of 280 the further one gets away from SF and there are fewer tight turns. I've not yet driven on I-5 or similar, but I anticipate long stretches of hands-free will be the norm.

Regarding ping-ponging, I find that it does it from time to time, but usually it's not much. I suspect some just have lower or higher tolerances for this behavior. The same for what position the car decides to sit in the lane. I definitely at times move the car over myself while driving with BC (HF or HO) at times, especially if going near a large truck. There's a reason for the nanny cam!

It is true HF-BC isn't an option on city streets, but Hands On BC is and works well(ish). My principle gripe about it (in any stop and go traffic) is that it waits longer than I'd like to start up after coming to a stop. However you can recommence BC (HF or HO) simply by pressing the accelerator, so that's what I do and I get the car moving as soon as I'd like (thereby lessening the gap with the car in front).

For those that find in stop and go traffic that your MME feels like it might rear-end the car in front of you when it slows/stops, try increasing the follow-gap. I find that when in highway stop and go traffic where traffic can alternately flow at high speed and then suddenly slow greatly or stop, setting the follow-gap to 4 bars provides a much smoother (and less terrifying) ride.

Regarding Tesla AutoPilot & FSD, I've driven both and I very much dislike them for the following reason: If you make any but the slightest steering adjustments, the car basically tells you, "Screw you, if you don't want me to drive then fine, YOU DO IT!" and turns off AP. Same goes for lane changing. This is the case even with FSD. Yes, FSD supports lane changes, but if you decide you want to change lanes on your own, well, "Screw you, if you don't want me to drive then fine, YOU DO IT!" I seriously dislike this functionality and far prefer the fact that on my MME (and my Volvo before it) I can make all the steering adjustments that I want and the only adjustment (that I can think of) that will turnoff BC is hitting the brakes. Otherwise the car just settles back into HO and then HF-BC once I've stopped making my adjustments.
 
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K.B.

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Does it stay in this mode (blue background, hands free) the whole time?

1656359329009.png


On the highways around me, it switches to this mode (with the blue bubble around the car) quite often, which is the Lane Keep Assist/hands on mode. Sorry for the blurry picture.

Screen Shot 2022-06-27 at 12.50.39 PM.png


Somewhat confusingly, once the car has the BlueCruise upgrade, both are called BlueCruise, although clearly the bottom one requires you to keep your hand on the steering wheel whereas the top one is "true" hands free BlueCruise.
My system was doing the same thing at first install of the blue cruise. Then after a few over the air updates it began working properly.
 

bristol16

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What do you set your speed to when you're on the pike?
Depends on conditions but most times 80mph...it doesn't seem to go hands free above that. At 4am on my way in to work there isn't much traffic to worry about and it just goes down the road at 80, on my ride home it will just cruise at the same speed as traffic up to 80. It does a pretty decent job maintaining speed.
 


KDub

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I got a chance to test out BlueCruise on a 10 hour roundtrip road trip from SF Bay Area to Santa Barbara (risked DC fast charging with the recall šŸ˜¬šŸ¤žšŸ¼). Overall, it seemed to work fairly well, engaging on 101 South and North, and 680 quite a bit. I agree with the OP, the only thing that makes me not trust it is that often it would frequently transition from BlueCruise to "Put your hands on the wheel," normal adaptive cruise control with no audible warning, just transitioning to the visual non-blue screen. This doesn't seem particularly safe. At least provide some audible warning or a vibration on the steering wheel when it's going to transition out of BlueCruise and into normal ACC. Otherwise, BlueCruise demands you keep eyes on the road (not the screen) but the function can transition to normal ACC at any moment while I'm looking at the road not the screen. It's nice to have and glad I got it OTA but I don't think I'll rely on it too much by taking my hands off the steering wheel unless they make some improvements. Overall, the whole bag full of driver assist features, including BlueCruise, made the road trip a lot nicer than any other car I've driven.
 

Tampamike

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I like it.

I liked ACC with lane-keeping but I really wanted to just keep my hand on the wheel without having to twitch every 20 seconds. With BC I got that now. I even leave my hands in my lap for a while because I can. I wish it would change lanes without disconnecting but, life ainā€™t perfect. Box of chocolates and all. If I had a Tesla ( not sure whether it would be black or white), I wouldnā€™t pay $10k for it. In my MachE, one year free is a pretty good price, ā€¦ I think.
 
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HDer

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newmme

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Mine ping pongs from side to side in the lane and it gets very scared if the road curves and bongs to help it.
The problem is Ford tweeting it was fully tested, which obviously is false.

Ford Mustang Mach-E BlueCruise v1 is a Let Down Screenshot_20220627-191546
 

minjaep

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Interesting that it is very different from my experience. On the daily I-90 to Boston, I turn on BC for about 40 minutes with only a few interruptions. I found that the hand nanny always looks for me just before the toll cameras. Also, it makes me engage when the speed is > 81mph, so I mostly set the speed to 79mph. In addition to these two situations, I manually turn off it on a specific curve where I found it is too fast without deceleration.
 

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Bluecruise v1 is awesome, in case anyone is trying to make a decision on the Tech / Premium package like we did.
 

SnBGC

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I have been able to drive a few vehicles with working hands free BC and I find it underwhelming. That being said, I would say BC has met my expectations. It performs about as well as I expected it would.
 

micah77

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Iā€™ve used BC on my commute to and from work daily for the six weeks I have had my car. The commute is mostly highway driving in MA, 2 hours per day, and it can vary from 80mph to stop and go. Itā€™s hands free 95% of the time and I find it especially great in stop and go traffic - itā€™s not as smooth as I would drive but certainly much easier.

I consider it hands free cruise control. Maybe it was marketed as more, but I donā€™t expect it to be too smart, like anticipate behaviors of other drivers or conditions developing many cars ahead. It stays in a lane and maintains a gap, but thatā€™s enough to improve my commute.
 

jbooth

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I'd use it as a feature if it was free (came with the premium, 1 year free). I don't expect to subscribe for it. 90% of the benefit with adaptive cruise + lanekeeping.

If the road markings were better (dashed lines at entry/exit ramps, "busses / 65 / speed / limit" or whatever the sign that confuses it is) then maybe but as it is if I have to go hands on in the land of flat, boring, and straight every 2 minutes, I'll pass on paying for that.

The tech package is still worth it, if it gives you the 360 camera, even ignoring bluecruise.
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