Ford owners in Europe can now use the company’s BlueCruise hands-free advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) in more countries than ever before after the American automaker received approval from the European Commission to expand availability.
The ADAS feature, which is offered on several Ford models, including the battery-powered Mustang Mach-E, can be activated in a total of 15 European countries–up from three.
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Hands-free but still not Level 3
Ford's BlueCruise ADAS is marketed as a hands-free driving aid, but it's still regarded as a Level 2 system on the SAE chart. That's because BlueCruise will disengage if the driver isn't paying attention to what's going on on the road.
Previously, the system was available on highways in Great Britain, Spain and Germany. After the expansion, the list of countries includes Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland and Sweden.
In total, Ford owners using BlueCruise have access to 82,744 miles of designated highways across Europe where the system can automatically steer, change lanes, accelerate and brake depending on traffic conditions, the company said. Additionally, the feature can be switched on on over 130,000 miles of divided highways called Hands-Free Blue Zones in the United States and Canada, bringing the total number of miles to over 210,000.
With the expansion into new European countries, Ford got ahead of Tesla which still doesn’t offer its so-called Full Self-Driving Capability in this part of the world. The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, recently said that the company will seek regulatory approval in Europe and China “pretty soon” and that he expects to get that approval “before the end of the year.”
Ford offers a BlueCruise 90-day free trial for new cars purchased in the United States. When the trial ends, customers need to pay a subscription to keep the feature active on their vehicles, which costs either $75 per month or $700 for a year. In Germany, the monthly subscription starts at €24.99, roughly $27 at current exchange rates.
By comparison, Tesla’s FSD costs $99 per month if the feature was not bought outright when the vehicle was purchased new, but it’s worth mentioning that compared to Ford’s system, which only works on designated highways, FSD can also navigate on city streets and automatically stop at traffic lights and stop signs.
