BlueCruise vs Intelligent Cruise Control

[ThunderDome]

What is the benefit to BlueCruise that will justify paying once the free period is up? Is it that the car can switch lanes by itself and keep an appropriate speed when getting on / off some highways? I feel like the only added benefit compared to intelligent cruise control is that it’s not required to have a car in front of me for my car to basically drive itself. Otherwise, I don’t understand what I’m missing out on with intelligent cruise control.

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[KevinS]

Intelligent Cruise Control is hands on the wheel, BlueCruise is hands free.

 

[ThunderDome]

Intelligent Cruise Control is hands on the wheel, BlueCruise is hands free.

Thanks, yeah I don’t think it’s such an inconvenience to keep a hand loosely on the wheel. Your eyes are required to be on the road anyways. So I guess the benefit is you can put both hands in your pockets if you’d like?

 

[RickMachE]

Thanks, yeah I don’t think it’s such an inconvenience to keep a hand loosely on the wheel. Your eyes are required to be on the road anyways. So I guess the benefit is you can put both hands in your pockets if you’d like?

Yes. It's designed so you can put your hands in your pocket. Or, be tied up by your partner....

None of the benefits you cited are actually in BlueCruise at this point. If you care about it (which you apparently don't), you can Google it and watch a video on the current capabilities.

Oh, and Intelligent Cruise Control has no requirement to have a vehicle in front of you...

Clearly you don't drive long distances. We've done 3 trips in our Mach-E, driving roughly 600 - 700 miles a day. Having the ability to not have to keep my hands on the wheel at all times, plus knowing that future capabilities are coming, is one of the reasons that I bought this vehicle.

For you, it probably isn't worth having as you've indicated.

 

[ThunderDome]

Yes. It's designed so you can put your hands in your pocket. Or, be tied up by your partner....

None of the benefits you cited are actually in BlueCruise at this point. If you care about it (which you apparently don't), you can Google it and watch a video on the current capabilities.

Oh, and Intelligent Cruise Control has no requirement to have a vehicle in front of you...

Clearly you don't drive long distances. We've done 3 trips in our Mach-E, driving roughly 600 - 700 miles a day. Having the ability to not have to keep my hands on the wheel at all times, plus knowing that future capabilities are coming, is one of the reasons that I bought this vehicle.

For you, it probably isn't worth having as you've indicated.

I gotcha. I see how it would make sense for long-distance driving.

 

[Neil4Real]

I gotcha. I see how it would make sense for long-distance driving.

I use it on my commute to and from work everyday. I really like it. I didn't think I would, but I'm gotten used to not having my hands on the wheel and just watching the road. A bit more comfortable, I guess you could say.

 

[madredhatter]

What do folks think the odds are that automatic lane changes will come to current generation Blue Cruise vehicles? I worry that it will be something that requires additional sensors so only newer model years will get the added lane change assist functionality. I hope I'm wrong about that because it would be a nice feature.

 

[Luke]

What do folks think the odds are that automatic lane changes will come to current generation Blue Cruise vehicles? I worry that it will be something that requires additional sensors so only newer model years will get the added lane change assist functionality. I hope I'm wrong about that because it would be a nice feature.

I hope we can get that in the current version. However, I’ve noticed that after getting the BC update in my Job1 MME, the drive assist gets spooked very easily. It sees the cars driving by as possible collisions and sounds the alert. It also causes the car to break a bit even without any car in front of me. This is not as bad as the Tesla’s ghost breaking, but the car became way sensitive to cars on the adjacent lane. And because of that, I think new versions might come equipped with better side sensors.

 

[RickMachE]

I hope we can get that in the current version. However, I’ve noticed that after getting the BC update in my Job1 MME, the drive assist gets spooked very easily. It sees the cars driving by as possible collisions and sounds the alert. It also causes the car to break a bit even without any car in front of me. This is not as bad as the Tesla’s ghost breaking, but the car became way sensitive to cars on the adjacent lane. And because of that, I think new versions might come equipped with better side sensors.

I think you have a big problem with your car breaking a bit, and should take it in immediately, even if it's just a little bit broken.

 

[RickMachE]

What do folks think the odds are that automatic lane changes will come to current generation Blue Cruise vehicles? I worry that it will be something that requires additional sensors so only newer model years will get the added lane change assist functionality. I hope I'm wrong about that because it would be a nice feature.

I don't know what you mean by "automatic lane changes", but Ford has already said that future enhancements are more zones, Lane Change Assist, and Predictive Speed Assist.

Lane Change Assist, once a driver has signaled a lane change, allows the vehicle to autonomously steer into the next lane.

Predictive Speed Assist will adjust speed for curves, roundabouts, and more.

I think the odds are 100% that these two features at least will come to this generation of cars.

 

[madredhatter]

I don't know what you mean by "automatic lane changes", but Ford has already said that future enhancements are more zones, Lane Change Assist, and Predictive Speed Assist.

Lane Change Assist, once a driver has signaled a lane change, allows the vehicle to autonomously steer into the next lane.

Predictive Speed Assist will adjust speed for curves, roundabouts, and more.

I think the odds are 100% that these two features at least will come to this generation of cars.

Lane change assist is what I am referring to, but I'm still a bit skeptical as to whether we see it on current generation cars. Even better would be a system where the car would just intelligently change lanes to maintain the desired speed limit, but I think that's a long way down the line, and I certainly wouldn't expect that on the current generation of vehicles.

 

[RickMachE]

It would have been moronic for Ford to announce coming features of BlueCruise if those features wouldn't be available on 2021 vehicles. That's quite different from them announcing that they're changing the vehicle OS starting with 2023 vehicles.

I full expect Lane Change Assist within this calendar year. Now, add in that it's Ford and OTA updates, and it will be late 2023.

 

[ChasingCoral]

What do folks think the odds are that automatic lane changes will come to current generation Blue Cruise vehicles? I worry that it will be something that requires additional sensors so only newer model years will get the added lane change assist functionality. I hope I'm wrong about that because it would be a nice feature.

Expect it shortly after the frunk update, with the same timeliness as BC via OTA.

 

[Mache65]

I have not seen much of the benefit so far. I have F150 and MachE with blue cruise, do not see appreciable difference

 

[Triggerhappy007]

I have not seen much of the benefit so far. I have F150 and MachE with blue cruise, do not see appreciable difference

You must not have a partner to tie you up like Rick said.

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