Consumer Reports ranks BlueCruise as #1 driver assistance system

voxel

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Complete rankings:
1 - Ford
2 - GM
3 - Mercedes
4 - BMW
5 - Toyota
6 - VW
7 - Tesla
8 - Rivian
9 - Nissan
10 - Honda
11 - Volvo/Polestar
12 - Hyundai

Here's the article:
https://www.consumerreports.org/car...riving-assistance-systems-review-a2103632203/
Nice results. Usually SuperCruise is No.1 but we all know BlueCruise has been fine-tuned over the last year.

I don't know which Hyundai they tested but I've had multiple 2021/2022 Toyotas and I'd put them in the bottom third. It's borderline functional. The newer HDA2 from Hyundai/Kia works really well..

Subaru is noticeably missing. I think they are in the top third. Their EyeSight system worked well in my test drives on local roads.
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Texas-E

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I really kept thinking I was missing something with BC. The first day of ownership in May 2022 I used it driving going from Dallas the Austin (I-35) and I observed all the above and then the constant side to side movement that drove me crazy.
Having driven that stretch a lot, I decided that there were easier ways to stay anxious instead of wondering if BC planned to kill me in the next mile or two. 😵
 

awp0

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I've logged several thousand miles with hands-free Bluecruise. I think the "hands free" part is really good. I hate the ping-ponging that it seems to fall into at random times, and I hate that it hugs the right side of the lane. Furthermore it swings out aggressively to the right when it's initially engaged, before moving back toward the center. Almost like some calibration procedure, which IMHO is scary and should not be necessary. These criticisms are pretty well documented on the forum, so I don't think mine is broken.

So would I pay to renew BC if it were expiring tomorrow? I'm not sure. If they don't deliver BC 1.2 to MY2022 cars then the answer is probably "no", and I'd probably move to a different brand for my next car. The software is really important to me, and it would be pretty telling if Ford decides not to provide it to MY2021 and 2022 MMEs.
 

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A boat load of sensor tech and recent LV3 autonomous certification in a few states? Actually, I think only CO and working on CA. I was surprised to learn Mercedes was so far along. I had always thought, based on reviews, that GM was in the lead. Now Ford is getting accolades? I can't keep up.

I'm happy enough with the driver assistance features on the MME. My expectations are pretty low so I'm often pleasantly surprised with the capabilities. Looking forward to future updates.
Agreed, I just want driving to be less stressful. Tesla’s autopilot makes me more stressed out than with it off. Blue Cruise on long road trips does make me less stressed
 

Mach-Lee

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Still amazes me how many companies don't use driver monitoring yet. To me that should be required for any lane-centering or hands-free system as a failsafe to make sure the driver hasn't fallen asleep with their hand on the wheel (or with an ankle weight).

Also surprised to see they said BlueCruise kept it in the center of the lane, that's not the case on my car. Mine frequently comes close to cars in the adjacent lane.

Handling an unresponsive driver leaves a lot to be desired, I just don't think slowing down or stopping in the lane is the best idea due to risk of getting rear-ended at 75 MPH. Ideally it would use automatic lane change to pull over to the side of the road and stop, but that tech to do that safely hasn't been fully developed yet. For now, I think they should add automatic emergency flashers, automatic 911 dialing, and use automatic lane change to bring the car to the rightmost lane before slowing down to a crawl. Police need to be trained in how to get in front of unresponsive vehicles with their cruisers to stop them.

Hands Free BlueCruise on the Mach-E does a great job informing the driver when it's engaged. I love the whole cluster going blue so you can see it in your peripheral vision. I wish they would do something a little more noticeable than the blue bubble when using only lane centering. Sometimes I miss that it hasn't engaged yet when the blue bubble takes longer than normal.
 


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I do really like blue cruise but I find it puts me a little too close to the right of center. I always disable it if there is a truck or large vehicle on the lane to the right of me. Even if I manually make steering adjustments putting me closer to the left, BC puts me back closer on the right side. I wish it was adjustable.
 

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I do really like blue cruise but I find it puts me a little too close to the right of center. I always disable it if there is a truck or large vehicle on the lane to the right of me. Even if I manually make steering adjustments putting me closer to the left, BC puts me back closer on the right side. I wish it was adjustable.
I had similar complaints in our 22, and I really hope BC 1.2 comes to MY21/22 cars as this is quite a bit better in our 23. It doesn't hug the right side as much and lane repositioning helps a lot next to big vehicles, mostly semis but I've also seen it a few times when passing large vehicles like taller 1 ton pickups.
 
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nmope

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I had similar complaints in our 22, and I really hope BC 1.2 comes to MY21/22 cars as this is quite a bit better in our 23. It doesn't hug the right side as much and lane repositioning helps a lot next to big vehicles, mostly semis but I've also seen it a few times when passing large vehicles like taller 1 ton pickups.
Good to know that this is fixed in the new version of BC! Anyone know if BC1.2 is definitely coming to MY 21/22 ?
 
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Good to know that this is fixed in the new version of BC! Anyone know if BC1.2 is definitely coming to MY 21/22 ?
I don't think anyone here knows the answer, but there are a lot of speculative opinions.

If Ford doesn't deliver it to MY2022 cars, it'll be pretty telling about Ford's software strategy. Software's super important to me, and I like how Tesla keeps older cars feeling new with frequent updates and features. I know we're only talking about Bluecruise, but I'd probably think twice about buying another Ford if they refuse to deliver BC1.2 to a car that's less than half a year old.
 

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I don't think anyone here knows the answer, but there are a lot of speculative opinions.

If Ford doesn't deliver it to MY2022 cars, it'll be pretty telling about Ford's software strategy. Software's super important to me, and I like how Tesla keeps older cars feeling new with frequent updates and features. I know we're only talking about Bluecruise, but I'd probably think twice about buying another Ford if they refuse to deliver BC1.2 to a car that's less than half a year old.
Ultimately, I think its going to come down to hardware (sensors or chips) that may be a newer revision in the 2023 MMEs. If that's the case, there will be no upgradeability path for earlier years.
If its just a software revision, then I think Ford can and will make it available to prior years. Not because they are nice, but because this is a subscription product they charge separately for.

Starting in about 2-months now, the first batch of 2021s that were granted 1-yr free BC will have to start paying for the service. It could be that Ford is delaying saying anything about BC 1.2 so they can capture as much revenue as possible on the original system before saying "BC 1.2 is 2023 and newer only".

The more time goes by without Ford saying anything specific indicates to me that its not likely going to happen for earlier owners.
 

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Ultimately, I think its going to come down to hardware (sensors or chips) that may be a newer revision in the 2023 MMEs. If that's the case, there will be no upgradeability path for earlier years.
If its just a software revision, then I think Ford can and will make it available to prior years. Not because they are nice, but because this is a subscription product they charge separately for.

Starting in about 2-months now, the first batch of 2021s that were granted 1-yr free BC will have to start paying for the service. It could be that Ford is delaying saying anything about BC 1.2 so they can capture as much revenue as possible on the original system before saying "BC 1.2 is 2023 and newer only".

The more time goes by without Ford saying anything specific indicates to me that its not likely going to happen for earlier owners.
Hard to disagree with any of that. I don't think I would renew BC if I had to right now, and Ford's lack of communication on this topic is frustrating. The problems that are reportedly improved in BC1.2 are the ones that I struggle with on a daily basis. I don't really care about lane changing, I just want a more confident lane centering experience (not hugging the right side, not ping ponging, not swinging out to the right when I turn it on). I'd renew if those things are fixed.
 

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Pretty funny that I can't find a single post about this in the Tesla forums.... 😁
 

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Hard to disagree with any of that. I don't think I would renew BC if I had to right now, and Ford's lack of communication on this topic is frustrating. The problems that are reportedly improved in BC1.2 are the ones that I struggle with on a daily basis. I don't really care about lane changing, I just want a more confident lane centering experience (not hugging the right side, not ping ponging, not swinging out to the right when I turn it on). I'd renew if those things are fixed.
Same here, the hugging the right side of the lane is a dealbreaker for me. There are so many people in this area that drift to the left of *their* lane, that it makes BC feel dangerous in the current version.
 

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I have a MY23 with the latest software which includes the lane change feature. However, hands free Blue Cruise will not work, only the hands on works. Ford's EV Specialist group had me take it to the dealer, but the dealer is unable to fix it. The service rep told me yesterday that they have had quite a few MME's coming in with this problem (not sure if they are all MY23 cars) and there is nothing they can do to fix it. They need Ford to provide a fix.

The hands on version of Blue Cruise works fine. I think the lane change feature is a bit slow to execute, especially in the heavy traffic we have here in the Bay Area. On highways with less traffic and fewer curves it does a better job.
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