It looks like Ford, while going all-in on EVs, is bowing out of the full self-driving car business… at least for now.
In a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , the company revealed that it is not moving forward with plans to develop Level 4, or fully autonomous, self-driving vehicles. Instead, Ford plans to limit its focus on improving and deploying Level 2 and Level 3 self-driving technology in its vehicles.
The company says that “the road to fully autonomous vehicles, at scale, with a profitable business model, will be a long one.” As evidenced by the planned shutdown of our ADS partner Argo Al, we believe the road to fully autonomous vehicles, at scale, with a profitable business model, will be a long one. At this time, Ford has determined that it is more prudent to focus on nearer-term L2/L3 technologies, which do not require an exemption. Hence, we would exemption from further consideration. like to withdraw the subject petition for an exemption for further consideration.