Ford Expands Driverless Car Fleet

CARS.COM — Ford says it will triple the size of its fleet of autonomous test vehicles to about 90 by the end of 2017. The Detroit automaker already is testing autonomous vehicles with safety drivers on roads in Michigan, California and Arizona, and has said it will have a fully autonomous vehicle ready for use in a ride-sharing service by 2021.

Related: Ford to Unveil Upgraded Self-Driving Test Cars

The news comes as Ford also announced it is rolling out a next-generation autonomous test car based on the Fusion Hybrid, which will be displayed in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. A fully autonomous car would not require a driver, nor have conventional driver controls, but the new test cars still will.

While Ford pursues its own research, it also has joined Google, Volvo, Uber and Lyft in the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, which advocates with lawmakers and regulators on behalf of autonomous vehicle research. Both Ford and Volvo are working with Uber on self-driving vehicles. Volvo also has promised a self-driving vehicle by 2021. And Google’s self-driving car project is testing its own vehicles as well as 100 autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Chris Brewer, Ford’s chief engineer for autonomous vehicle development, said in a blog post that the next-generation Fusion sedans build on the current autonomous test platform, which Ford began testing 2013. The cars’ “virtual driver system” uses cameras and radar sensors as well as lidar (light detection and ranging) feeding data to the onboard computer, which also uses 3-D maps. Brewer says the cars’ two new lidar sensors, down from four, gather as much data but are sleeker and more efficient.