Today at CES 2015, Ford talked about its Smart Mobility Plan and the holistic approach it will be implementing to resolve future Mobility related crisis worldwide. The company will focus on advanced automobile technology and other innovative experiments for sustainable mobility development.
Ford will implement 25 mobility related experiments in different parts of the world. In India, the company will develop a Share-car model in banglore, which will allow several groups to share transportation. Researchers plan on developing a model for vehicle scheduling and managing ownership as well.
“We see a world where vehicles talk to one another, drivers and vehicles communicate with the city infrastructure to relieve congestion, and people routinely share vehicles or multiple forms of transportation for their daily commute. The experiments we’re undertaking today will lead to an all-new model of transportation and mobility within the next 10 years and beyond.”, Said Ford President and CEO Mark Fields.
Out of these 25 experiments, eight will be practiced in North America, nine in Europe and Africa, seven in Asia and one in South America. All experiments aim to address 4 global trends –
· Explosive population growth
· Expanding middle class
· Air quality and public health concerns
· Changing customer attitudes and priorities
With the Innovate Mobility Challenge Series, Ford invited innovators and developers around the world to brainstorm and find valid solution to mobility related issues worldwide.
On the technology front, Ford is working on fully autonomous vehicles. The company is already testing fully autonomous Ford Fusion Hybrid research vehicle which adds four LiDAR sensors to generate a real-time 3D map of the surrounding environment.
The company already has semi autonomous vehicles which can apply breaks in emergency conditions, use software and sensors to steer in narrow parking space and adjust speed based on traffic.
Fourteen of the 25 experiments are Ford-led research projects, and 11 are part of the company’s Innovate Mobility Challenge Series. The experiments include:
- Fleet Insights: United States
- Big Data Drive: Dearborn, Michigan
- Data Driven Insurance: London
- Remote Repositioning: Atlanta
- City Driving On-Demand: London
- Dynamic Social Shuttle: New York, London
- Car Swap: Dearborn, Michigan
- Ford Carsharing: Germany
- Share-Car: Bangalore, India
- Rapid Recharge & Share: Dearborn, Michigan
- Data Driven Healthcare: The Gambia, West Africa
- Parking Spotter: Atlanta
- Info Cycle: Palo Alto, California
- Painless Parking: London
