Ford expands self-driving cars to Europe, set to begin trials in 2017

Ford is set to broaden its real-world self-driving automobile testing, beginning on-the-road trials in Europe by 2017. The growth builds on Ford’s present project in North America, where the automaker has presently revealed it aims to introduce a self-driving rideshare plan by 2021. Now, much like an American motorist taking a regional driving test while abroad, Ford’s technology needs to get to grips with foreign roadways.

It’s a crucial issue than just reprogramming the car to drive on the other side of the road in the UK, Ford mentions. “Rules of the road differ from nation to nation here,” Thomas Lukaszewicz, manager of Automated Driving at Ford of Europe, stated of the statement. “Traffic signs and road designs are different, and drivers are likely to share overloaded roads with cyclists.”

That’s not an irrelevant challenge, and the efforts will be spread across 3 various centers initially. The UK project will be found at Ford’s Engineering Center in Essex, the automaker informed TechCrunch, while its Research & Advanced Engineering centers in Aachen and Cologne in Germany will also be included. And they’ll need to get to grips with varying regulations, styles of driving, and localized characteristics in many countries.

However, Ford says its research recommends European motorists are normally in favor of robotic vehicles taking to the public highways. In a survey of 5,000 adults, 80-percent told they would benefit from autonomous driver to view the scenary pass by, while 72-percent said they would use the time to make phone calls. 64-percent imagined neglecting the road and concentrating rather on eating.

Ford is yet to state if it has self-driving ridesharing plans for Europe.