Tag Archives: Ford F-150

Ford F-150 Lightning EV Vs Tesla Cybertruck, BMW i4 M50 Leaked, 631-HP Porsche Cayenne Drift-Fest: Your Morning Brief

Good morning and welcome to our daily digest of automotive news from around the globe, starting with…

Google Launches Android 12 With New Car Smart Key Functionality

Smartphones have already made bank cards and MP3 players redundant, and it looks like car keys are next. Google says your Android phone will soon be able to unlock and start your BMW, and compatibility with other brands will follow.

Jaguar F-Type Gets Dropped From A Truck, Smashes Into Chevy Silverado, Damages Nissan GT-R

It’s hard to imagine the delivery of a new car going much worse than it does for the truck driver tasked with handing this F-type roadster over to its new owner.

QOTD: Who Got It Right, Ford’s Straight-Laced F-150 Lightning Or Tesla’s Cocky Cybertruck?

The F-150 Lightning EV is such a huge deal for Ford, for trucks, for the electric car market, and for America, that even President Biden demanded a go. But did Ford play it too safe with the styling?

Bugatti Chiron Sport And Rafale Fighter Jet Meet In Asphalt-Vibrating Race

Back in 2007, Richard Hammond raced a Bugatti Veyron against a Eurofighter Typhoon for the old Top Gear show, and despite its impressive straight-line performance, the hypercar found it hard to keep up with the fighter jet. But how does its successor, the Chiron, fare against 54,000 lbs of Rafale fighter thrust?

Walter Röhrl Shows Us Around The Upcoming 631 HP Porsche Cayenne Coupe

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The 671 hp plug-in Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid might have more grunt, but this lighter, driftier Coupe definitely looks like it’s going to be the most fun Cayenne you can buy. Even stone-faced rally legend and Porsche ambassador Walter nearly cracks a smile.

Roll Like Automotive Royalty With Henry Ford II’s 1966 Mustang Convertible

The original Mustang helped pioneer factory-order personalisation, but as boss of the company, Henry Ford II really could get the ‘Stang of his dreams. This ’66 convertible used by the big man during his vacations in France, and now up for grabs, is fitted with an interesting auxiliary gauge pack in the leather covered dashboard, plus the seats and door panels from a Mercury Cougar.

BMW i4 M50 Reportedly Outed Before Its Debut Next Month

An image of what appears to be BMW’s first M-badged EV has surfaced on social media. The sporty i4 features a blacked-out grille and window trims, a more aggressive front bumper and unique fender vents.

What Else Is Making The News

Snap’s New Spectacles Let You See The World In Augmented Reality

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The company behind Snapchat and those crazy photo filters is moving into the AR field with a pair of smart glasses that overlay images on the wearer’s view of the world, explains The Verge. The downside – apart from making you look like one of Biff’s goons from Back To The Future – is that you can’t buy them yet.

Japanese Bullet Train Driver Takes Bathroom Break As Train Cruises At 90 mph

When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go, or at least that’s what a Japanese train driver thought when he left a lowly conductor at the controls of a bullet train for three minutes while he dealt with some, er, abdominal discomfort, CNN reports. His crappy misdeed might have gone unnoticed if he hadn’t slowed the 200mph train to 90mph, causing it to be 1 minute late to the next station.

New Ford Mach-E And F-150 Getting Hands-Free Driving Tech Over The Air In Q3 2021, Subscription Costs $600

Ford is going to offer its latest hands-free driver-assistance system with the new 2021 F-150 and Mustang Mach-E models but there’s a catch.

While customers will get the necessary hardware for the system to work with their new 2021 F-150 or Mustang Mach-E, either as standard equipment or an option on certain trims, Ford’s hands-free driver-assistance system won’t come online until the third quarter of 2021 via an over-the-air software patch.

Read Also: GM’s Super Cruise Crushes Tesla’s Autopilot In CR’s Hands-Free Test

Ford said that the new Active Drive Assist will be standard for the 2021 F-150 Limited and for the 2021 Mustang Mach-E CA Route 1, Premium, and First Edition models.

Here’s how much it will cost you

As for the rest of the F-150’s range, the hands-free driver assistance system will be a $1,595 option while Mustang Mach-E Select buyers can get it as part of the $3,200 Comfort and Technology Package, which also includes a 360-degree camera, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel.

Ford will also offer the hardware for the Active Drive Assist, which includes a forward-facing camera and radar sensors among others, as a separate ‘prep package’ together with the Active Park Assist 2.0 for $895, which includes a $100 early adopter incentive.

Customers will then have to pay $600 for a three-year subscription for the software of the hands-free Active Drive Assist, when that is ready to launch, in which case they’ll receive it via an over-the-air update.

So to sum up, owners of upper level trim cars that already come equipped with the hardware as standard, will pay $600 for the software subscription. Otherwise, owners of lower trim levels will have to pay for the hardware (via options) and an additional $600 for the software.

“In the second half of 2021, new customers will be able to purchase the hardware and software together in the Ford Co-Pilot Active 2.0 package, without the need for an Over-the-Air Update to initiate the feature,” the company said in a statement.

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Ford’s new Active Drive Assist system builds upon the existing adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go function and the Lane Centering and Speed Sign recognition systems. The system will allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel on prequalified sections of divided highways, the so-called ‘Hands-Free Zones’ that make up over 100,000 miles of North American roads.

Ford’s new system also uses an advanced driver-facing camera that will track eye gaze and head position to make sure drivers are paying attention to the road while in Hands-Free mode, as well as when they are using the hands-on Lane Centering mode.

“As breakthroughs in new technology allow us to help reduce the stress of long highway drives, it’s important to make sure these capabilities can be enjoyed by the largest spread of people possible,” said Hau Thai-Tang, chief product platform, and operations officer, Ford Motor Company. “Active Drive Assist can help improve the driving experience while ensuring people remain aware and fully in control, all for a price unmatched by our competitors – a commitment to affordable innovations that has driven us since Henry Ford put the world on wheels.”

Ford expects to sell more than 100,000 F-150 and Mustang Mach-E equipped with Active Drive Assist technology hardware in their first year in the market.