Technology/Autonomous Vehicles

Ford will Build an Autonomous Taxi within Five Years

by Frédérick Boucher-Gaulin
Ford Fusion autonomous vehicle
Photo: Ford

In a recent presentation, Mark Fields, Ford's CEO, announced that the company wanted to put a fully autonomous vehicle on the market. Nothing really surprising so far, since everyone is currently developing this technology.

However, Ford's approach is different: first of all, their car will fully drive itself and won't feature a steering wheel or pedals. Secondly, the new vehicle isn't made to be privately owned, but intended to be used as a taxi.

Oh, and Ford also promised that its car will be out within five years.

This announcement is part of Ford's Smart Mobility program, which has the obvious objective of placing the Dearborn manufacturer at the forefront of the autonomous vehicle segment.

Ford also got some help from various partners. They outright bought SAIPS, an Israeli business specialized in artificial intelligence. It will also invest in Velodyne, a leader in LiDAR sensors. Ford also inked partnerships with Civil Maps—that develops 3D maps—as well as Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC, who claims to have found the "code" by which the eyes communicate with the brain; in theory, this could give Ford's car more human reactions.

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