[외신] Ford’s upcoming electric Mustang to have self-driving capabilities

Ford’s upcoming all-electric Mustang Mach-E will offer hands-free driving when it hits the road next year, the automaker said Thursday.

The feature, dubbed Active Drive Assist, arrives six years after Tesla and four years after General Motors introduced similar features. It will be offered on several Ford models, but most notably on the electric Mustang, a crossover vehicle targeted at the Tesla Model Y market which will hit the road later this year.

Ford said that Americans will be able to order the Mustang Mach-E in the fall with the high-tech hardware package, which includes extra radar sensors and a driver-facing camera, but noted the software won’t be ready until fall 2021.

When the Active Driver Assist software is ready, users will be able to download an update for their vehicles.

Tesla introduced its first semi-automated hands-free driver assist package, called Autopilot, in 2015. GM followed two years later with a similar semi-automated feature called Super Cruise on the Cadillac CT6.

Ford unveiled the Mach-E in November 2019, with its unique design polarizing fans of the muscle car line, with one Twitter user calling it “the ugliest vehicle ever made.”

“The Mustang Mach-E looks like the ugly love child between a BMW, Jaguar, and Ford Escape,” another wrote.

The electric car will have a range of 230 miles, and will cost just under $44,000.