Due to the fact that recently, driverless cars had made the headlines, it's only a matter of time before other automobile companies would start producing them. Finally, The great ambition was made known by the President of Ford by name Mark Fields, at an event in Palo Alto, California.
Ford announced that it would multiply its investment in its research centre in the city, as well as making sizable investments into technology companies in the autonomy industry.
It also said that the car would be available for use by customers in 2021.
It said this was most likely as part of an Uber-like ride-sharing service but one that doesn’t need a human driver in it.
Eventually, the mass-produced self-driving car will not have a steering wheel.
“Whether you want to do work or you want entertainment… those are the types of things we are thinking about as we design the experience for this type of autonomous vehicle."
The announcement, described as “transformational” by Mr Fields, ushered in an era when Ford views itself, particularly in cities, as a company which provides an ad-hoc service rather than having the single aim of selling the cars to the general public.
“There will be a growing per cent of the industry that will be fully autonomous vehicles,” Mr Fields said.
"Our goal is not just to be an auto company, but an auto and mobility company.”
In previous years, Ford has portrayed itself as a technology company rather than just a maker of cars, and recently it has began to sound like one.
Ford has invested in Velodyne, which is a company that deals on LiDAR technology
In conjunction with Chinese firm Baidu, Ford has been able to make a joint investment of $150m (£115m) in Velodyne - a company which deals on light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology. LiDAR is the system used for precise detection of objects around the car.
Ford was also involved in an investment round that produced $6.6m for Civil Maps a digital mapping company as well as money invested in neuroscience research.
Amazingly, tech giants such as Google and Apple were not heard in Ford’s announcement. A suggestion it has opted to compete against the great technology giants rather than partner with them as some had originally anticipated.
But Google still remains no.1 in self-driving technology. Its cars have been used out on public roads for some years now. They are also developing a car which has no steering wheel but regulations so far has stopped that car from venturing beyond private land.
Like Google, Ford said it goal is on “Level 4” autonomy in reference to the standards put in place by the United State-based Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
Each level represent the sophistication of self-driving technology. At the fourth level (Level four) “High automation” - the car can function unmonitored, in a particular use case. For Ford, the use case would definitely be a city area. Level 5 would mean complete autonomy in any driving condition been subjected to.
The company said it has no intention of offering Level three driving. Level two means some level of automation that requires a driver's presence to monitor the car at all times.
Even Tesla’s Autopilot, which is able to change lanes and monitor traffic flow, is officially Level two although critics say human nature means drivers are instinctively regarding Autopilot as if it were in fact Level three automation. Level three is when constant monitoring and driver's presence is not required, but drivers should be ready to take control in case of emergencies. Tesla’s technology is been investigated by the United States road safety regulators after it was seen as the cause of a driver's death earlier this year.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk defended the roll-out of Autopilot in a blog post which was recently posted:
"When used correctly, it is already significantly safer than a person driving by himself and it would therefore be morally reprehensible to delay release simply for fear of bad press or some mercantile calculation of legal liability," he wrote.
At its announcement, the chief technical officer of ford Raj Nair said the company wasn’t completely satisfied that drivers could safely take control from a level two or three vehicle at a moment’s notice.
“We don’t yet know how to manage hand over back to the driver and have him engage and have him situationally aware, and be able to do that in a safe aware manner,” these were his words.
This thoughtful approach concurs with the views of Google which in the past has expressed concern about the safety implications of semi-autonomous driving. It leaves Tesla with Autopilot, isolated among auto makers.
"Tesla is very unique in the sense that it allows its users to be beta testers,” said Wayne Cunningham, managing editor of motoring news website Road Show.
"No other company thinks the way they do."
On Ford’s 2021 pledge, Mr Cunningham told the BBC it was a realistic goal but one that was purposely narrow.
"It’s not as an aggressive step as it sounds,” he said.
"This is really a car designed for very specific urban environments. It’s a car which will take people around at 20-30 mph through city centres."
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