Ford to Test Self-Driving Fusion Hybrids on California Roads

CARS.COM — Ford is the latest automaker to throw its hat into the self-driving ring. The Detroit automaker announced Tuesday that it’s received a permit from California to test self-driving Fusion Hybrid sedans on public roads in the state next year.

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The automaker has had a presence in California’s Silicon Valley since 2012, but the real technology ramp-up came in January 2015 when it opened a new research facility in Palo Alto, Calif., that now employs more than 100 researchers, engineers and scientists.

Ford says the facility has conducted research on the interactions between self-driving cars and pedestrians; it’s also studied camera- and sensor-based tracking of other cars, pedestrians and street signs.

Ford’s news comes on the heels of Kia reportedly getting the green light to test self-driving cars in Nevada, and automotive supplier Delphi bringing a self-driving Audi SQ5 to next month’s 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

It’s certainly not the first time we’ve seen a self-driving car at CES — or in California or Nevada, for that matter. California legalized self-driving cars in 2012. Two years later, Audi received the state’s first permit to pilot (or not pilot, as it were) self-driving cars.

California and Nevada are two of a small but increasing group of states that allow fully self-driving cars.