Ford's BlueCruise 1.2 Is A Step In The Right Direction | BlueCruise & ActiveGlide Review

Last time we tested Blue Cruise on our Mach E and F-150 Lightning long term testers, well, let's just say some things were half baked. Ford heard the complaints, put BlueCruise and ActiveGlide back in the oven and out popped BlueCruise 1.2! But does it solve the main issue that I had with the original software which was a lack of status notifications? Not really, but it does make the software better in just about every other way and if you get the system in a Lincoln, you'll get a heads up display that makes it easier to use. Oh, and ActiveGlide is now BlueCruise. Got it?

[AdamJakowenko]

I have a Mach-E and 100% agree with everything you said. However, Ford lost everyone as soon as you said these key words: "All you have to do is pay between $700 and $900/year". Blue Cruise 1.2 is good, and 1.3 will be much improved, but there's no way I'm paying that much to renew once my trial is up at the end of 2023, and 99% of owners in the forums have said they same. Paying something to cover the cost of continued software updates makes sense, but that price is just stupid high. I predict the price will come down when Ford realizes the post-trial take rate is like 5%

[ERPRocks]

In your criticism of the lack of notification I think you have made the mistake, (which I have seen other YouTubers make as well, ) in confusing Blue Cruise and Clue Cruise enabled hands-free driving. In the situation you referenced around 2:58, Blue Cruise was not disabled. The car was actually still sensing the road markings and surrounding vehicles, and also steering and controlling your speed. It was simply letting you know that you needed to put your hands on the wheel. Had you not done so, you would have received the audible warnings you were expecting. The system is just giving you a chance to adjust to react in normal time. Also note, if the car detected a situation where it needed to temporarily disable Blue Cruise, (and not just the hands-free feature, ) you would have received an immediate audible and visual alert.

[CaptDnaDonut]

I would like to clarify that if Blue Cruise (hands-free or hands on Blue Cruise) is completely disabled then there is an audible warning. At least for the Mustang Mach-E, if it switches from hands free to hands on blue cruise the entire instrument cluster changes from blue to white (or black depending on settings). Its pretty clear when you need hands on and when you don't.

[emoney]

I REFUSE to do anything subscription-based with a car. For a lease, it makes sense. If you have a car payment, I can see where you could be talked into it. But if you're buying a car cash and then need to rent a feature on top of that, that's ridiculous.

[sellers]

You mentioned how it compares to Super Cruise and Tesla FSD, but how would you rate it against Hyundai HDA2 in terms of performance? I'm debating between an Ioniq 5 and Mach E. I know HDA2 requires a hand on the wheel for attention monitoring, but I'm more interested in performance (ping-ponging, disengaging, etc.).

[jamesglosangeles]

When the system slows you to a stop when it detects a sleeping driver, does it flash the hazard lights as well or does it look like youre just parked in the middle of the road for no reason

[EDavis-iwzc]

Well thats not standard if you have to pay every year.

[lovswr]

I wonder if BC is dependent on the vehicle you’re in. My wife’s 2023 Mach-e does not ping-pong at all. It does, however, get buzz/disconnects in heavy construction zones. The stop-N-go traffic use, which I had not even thought of until we got caught on I-24 going through Chattanooga BC at 2 miles an hour (so everybody sees you)is THE BEST!

edit


Edit. I think my wife’s BEV already has BC 1.3

edit again ;) Or maybe not.

[wpelfeta]

I don't need my car to drive for me. What I really want is Tesla's radar thingy that shows the cars in the lane next to you. That looks super useful for watching your blindspots.

[randywhite]

Own a 2022 mach e I've had for about a year have had no ota updates concerning blue cruise 1.2 or 1.3.Spoke with Ford ota support I was told I would receive a combined 1.2 and 1.3 update together. However they did not know when. So my concern is I'm 67 and would really hate to kick the bucket before I can experience blue cruise.

[jgilsoul]

Seems like it puts the driver’s primary focus on the paying attention to what “the system” is telling you to do. Might be simpler to focus attention to driving the truck itself, and that way you don’t have to always be crapping your pants during rough braking and cornering done by “the system”.

[CrazyWeeMonkey]

small correction: Tesla "FSD Beta" is not a hands free ADAS.

[goostrey]

Are you driving the Grand Touring (PHEV) Corsair, Alex? I’ve been searching for reviews of those as it could be perfect for us, but the only ones I can find are Canadian. I’d really love to see a full review of the plugin hybrid from you, as I trust the thoroughness of your reviews above all others. The combination of PHEV and AWD in a US-made vehicle occurs nowhere else, as far as I can tell. Plus, Consumer Reports now lists it as one of their most reliable vehicles.

[Zhenocnra]

I agree that BlueCruise needs to use an IN-YOUR-FACE notification system to tell you when the system is engaged AND if the driver needs to take over again. If there is no HUD, the entire instrument cluster should be a BlueCruise notification panel in its entirety. The sides of the instrument panel should flash bright red to notify the driver to take over at the very least. The sound notifications should also be present. The fact that there is no auditory warning when the system disengages is a huge safety problem. The lack of notification is a complete non-starter either way and makes driving operation more dangerous than it is without BlueCruise engaged.

[johnathanstevens]

The new Kia Soul I rented actually had great lane assist. As long as it could see markings it was like the car was on rails. The ping pong thing drives me nuts. I had that on a highlander I rented and it drove me crazy, I thought the car badly needed an alignment.

[MistSoalar]

Do we need hands-off feature for Level2 ADAS if it enforces eye tracking so strict?
I'm too used to Tesla's basic AP and when the road is clean & empty, I have a bit longer time to look around.

[aex]

An important question is whether all cars that came with v1.0 can be updated to v1.2.

Order guides for certain other cars (Lincoln Navigator) still just say v1.0 even though Mach-E/Lightning list v1.2

[cheapercharlie]

1:13 that is the way a lane change should be 👍

[CaptDnaDonut]

Just got the notification of the upcoming Blue Cruise 1.3 update in the Ford Pass app. 🎉 Also Blue Cruise expensive AF now. It was going to be $600 for a 3 year subscription.

[kimle]

I have the 1.0 version and it better than AP on the model y but AP is free where this required subscription and also how do people with verison 1.0 upgrade to later version? Can this be done via a few hardware add on and software updates? If you set at nearest setting it will be jerky same as FSD or AP.