My Assessment of BlueCruise

[Mirak]

After my OTAs stalled out on 2.4.2 over a week ago, I got approval to have the dealership install the BlueCruise update yesterday. So I think that makes me one of maybe a few dozen Job 1 2021s that actually narrowly got BlueCruise by the end of Q1 2021, though not OTA. And about 9mos late as originally scheduled, but I digress. What you guys want to know is how it works.

Well, first, be aware it may not work at all for the first 12-24 hours! Even though I had it toggled on under the driver assistance settings (it’s called “hands free”) and I checked my ford.com vehicle dashboard to ensure BlueCruise was activated (under Connected Services), it didn’t work for me last night. Customer Service was worthless, as per usual. They suggested I wasn’t on an eligible road. When I asked them to verify based upon my location, they said they couldn’t do that because they don’t actually have a map of the Blue Zones. One is supposed to be coming. In May. Dammit Ford, stop being so bad at this. Please.

But anyway, today it worked. I took it on about a 25 mile loop of a few connecting highways around and through Wichita. It generally works fine. I had no issues on the straight stretches - no ping ponging - and it also handled most of the mild curves with only mild ping ponging.

In the map below, I’ve highlighted three curves in red which it could not handle. Well, let me be very clear about this - the lane centering could handle these curves just fine, but BlueCruise insisted that I put my hands back on the wheel anyway. And it does not navigate highway interchanges at all. I’m not talking cloverleafs - it cannot even handle gently curving 60mph ramps from one highway to the next.

When BC is operational, the eye nanny is very sensitive. If you look down ever so slightly at the IPC (driver instrument panel cluster), you will get a gentle “Watch the Road” pop up (no chimes) after 5 seconds. If you you look over to the infotainment screen or up to the rearview mirror or off to the side somewhere, you will get a stronger “Watch the Road” (with chimes) after 5 seconds. In either case, if you ignore that warning for 7 seconds you will get a “Resume Control” and louder chimes. I didn’t see what happens after that.

So that’s basically it. My assessment is that BlueCruise is currently very conservative. I can see how this will be a bit more relaxing on long drives (I’ve got a two hour highway trip coming tonight), but at this point I’m not sure I’ll continue past the 1yr free trial unless Ford loosens up on the reigns a bit. I don’t mind the sensitivity of the eye nanny - that part wasn’t the nuisance I feared it would be - but with the amount of times you have to put hands back on the wheel it’s not a massive enhancement over standard CP360.

Let me know if you all have any questions.

 

[JamieGeek]

The disengaging at highway interchanges (not just exit ramps but where two interstates come together) is, apparently, by design.

I've had it take some sharper curves without issue but then other days it disengages on those same sharp curves. I guess it depends on its mood at the time.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Shame it's still so unsure of itself on interstate curves. I hope that improves with time. While I'm fine with me having to take over on ramps, it really should be able to handle any interstate curve when driven at the speed limit (or reasonably higher).

 

[Mirak]

Shame it's still so unsure of itself on interstate curves. I hope that improves with time. While I'm fine with me having to take over on ramps, it really should be able to handle any interstate curve when driven at the speed limit (or reasonably higher).

I agree. And the lane centering can handle these curves because I’ve tested them many times with standard CP360 and only touching the wheel barely enough to satisfy the hand nanny. But it seems that Ford has deliberately decided to go very conservative with the hands free capability on anything more than very gentle curves.

 

[Mirak]

I've had it take some sharper curves without issue but then other days it disengages on those same sharp curves. I guess it depends on its mood at the time.

That’s interesting.

 

[JellyBelly]

That’s interesting.

Yes I have seen the same - same spots in the highway curves - some times switches to hands on and sometimes it does not.

I am still testing BC during normal work commutes to understand its operation but real value for me will be long distance less trafficked trips. I dont anticipate using for day to day driving as BC hands free is more of a hassle at least thats how I feel at this point.

 

[PeeKay]

My guess is that, any mishaps with Blue cruise engaged will lead to reputational damage so high, that it will be hard to overcome the negative image. So, they're probably waiting to get say 10's of thousands of cars in various locations under a variety of conditions, to gather enough data to feel comfortable.

Not sure how many vehicles with active BlueCruise are on the road today. Somewhere between 10-30k?

 

[Jimrpa]

After my OTAs stalled out on 2.4.2 over a week ago, I got approval to have the dealership install the BlueCruise update yesterday. So I think that makes me one of maybe a few dozen Job 1 2021s that actually narrowly got BlueCruise by the end of Q1 2021, though not OTA. And about 9mos late as originally scheduled, but I digress. What you guys want to know is how it works.

Well, first, be aware it may not work at all for the first 12-24 hours! Even though I had it toggled on under the driver assistance settings (it’s called “hands free”) and I checked my ford.com vehicle dashboard to ensure BlueCruise was activated (under Connected Services), it didn’t work for me last night. Customer Service was worthless, as per usual. They suggested I wasn’t on an eligible road. When I asked them to verify based upon my location, they said they couldn’t do that because they don’t actually have a map of the Blue Zones. One is supposed to be coming. In May. Dammit Ford, stop being so bad at this. Please.

But anyway, today it worked. I took it on about a 25 mile loop of a few connecting highways around and through Wichita. It generally works fine. I had no issues on the straight stretches - no ping ponging - and it also handled most of the mild curves with only mild ping ponging.

In the map below, I’ve highlighted three curves in red which it could not handle. Well, let me be very clear about this - the lane centering could handle these curves just fine, but BlueCruise insisted that I put my hands back on the wheel anyway. And it does not navigate highway interchanges at all. I’m not talking cloverleafs - it cannot even handle gently curving 60mph ramps from one highway to the next.

When BC is operational, the eye nanny is very sensitive. If you look down ever so slightly at the IPC (driver instrument panel cluster), you will get a gentle “Watch the Road” pop up (no chimes) after 5 seconds. If you you look over to the infotainment screen or up to the rearview mirror or off to the side somewhere, you will get a stronger “Watch the Road” (with chimes) after 5 seconds. In either case, if you ignore that warning for 7 seconds you will get a “Resume Control” and louder chimes. I didn’t see what happens after that.

So that’s basically it. My assessment is that BlueCruise is currently very conservative. I can see how this will be a bit more relaxing on long drives (I’ve got a two hour highway trip coming tonight), but at this point I’m not sure I’ll continue past the 1yr free trial unless Ford loosens up on the reigns a bit. I don’t mind the sensitivity of the eye nanny - that part wasn’t the nuisance I feared it would be - but with the amount of times you have to put hands back on the wheel it’s not a massive enhancement over standard CP360.

Let me know if you all have any questions.

Roads in Kansas have curves? I never knew that!

 

[Jimrpa]

Shame it's still so unsure of itself on interstate curves. I hope that improves with time. While I'm fine with me having to take over on ramps, it really should be able to handle any interstate curve when driven at the speed limit (or reasonably higher).

My speculation is that there are factors that we, as humans, don’t think of. Remember - Driver assistance ?
(One thing I can think of is potential traction changes in “sharper curves“. Another is the “vision” the system has in “sharper curves”. The field of view probably isn’t as wide as that of a person, and a car can’t “crane its head”).

 

[TheSteelRider]

I've had it take some sharper curves without issue but then other days it disengages on those same sharp curves. I guess it depends on its mood at the time.

That’s interesting.

Agree.

Now that I digest that, though I think it makes sense. I bet the system is designed to allow only a certain amount of torque against the power steering motor before the nanny aborts. Those curves must be on the border line of the limit, and some days say when there is a slight cross wind or perhaps groove variation in the lane it aborts.

IF that is the design, then it's interesting then why a mapped road is necessary. I guess the road mapping is just to limit the feature to highways and not streets.

 

[mixduptransistor]

If you go into this thinking it's going to be Tesla-level you had the wrong expectations. Ford is going to be very conservative because a) they have a much larger audience of much more diverse drivers and b) have 150 years of history dealing with the NHTSA and lawsuits and will want to avoid them as much as possible

Tesla is currently feeling a lot of pressure and I feel like their "FSD" (which is not) will be getting dialed back whether they like it or not. Ford does not want to be in the headlines with people killing themselves with BlueCruise like Tesla drivers are with FSD

 

[Jimrpa]

Agree.

Now that I digest that, though I think it makes sense. I bet the system is designed to allow only a certain amount of torque against the power steering motor before the nanny aborts. Those curves must be on the border line of the limit, and some days say when there is a slight cross wind or perhaps groove variation in the lane it aborts.

IF that is the design, then it's interesting then why a mapped road is necessary. I guess the road mapping is just to limit the feature to highways and not streets.

Do we know the precision/tolerance of the road mapping?

 

[Jimrpa]

If you go into this thinking it's going to be Tesla-level you had the wrong expectations. Ford is going to be very conservative because a) they have a much larger audience of much more diverse drivers and b) have 150 years of history dealing with the NHTSA and lawsuits and will want to avoid them as much as possible

Tesla is currently feeling a lot of pressure and I feel like their "FSD" (which is not) will be getting dialed back whether they like it or not. Ford does not want to be in the headlines with people killing themselves with BlueCruise like Tesla drivers are with FSD

Oh dear lord, I sure hope it’s NOT “Tesla level”. My car has already had one unfortunate encounter with bollard, and that was an accident. I don’t want my car intentionally careening toward every bollard it “sees”!

 

[Mirak]

IF that is the design, then it's interesting then why a mapped road is necessary. I guess the road mapping is just to limit the feature to highways and not streets.

I'm thinking this is almost certainly true. Maybe one day that mapping can be used for other purposes, like slowing down on off ramps, but right now it's likely just a geofence. Ford has never confirmed the purpose of the mapping.

 

[JamieGeek]

Oh dear lord, I sure hope it’s NOT “Tesla level”. My car has already had one unfortunate encounter with bollard, and that was an accident. I don’t want my car intentionally careening toward every bollard it “sees”!

Well I was just doing a little experimenting with BC. Something I've noticed:

If you notice the car getting a little close to one side (like say it veers towards a truck to your right) and you nudge the wheel a bit to the left to get the car away from the line and hold it there for a bit (yeah all the while the dash says "hands free"). When you let go of the wheel the car will turn back to the right and then yell at you to take control because it over corrected and is now too close to the line.

Once I noticed this I tried it a few times (with no trucks present LOL) and I could get it to repeat the behavior.