Ford Eyes-Off Driving Technology launching in 2028 on $30K EV Truck. New AI Assistant launches early 2026

[Furai]

Ford enters race to offer eyes-off driving tech, starting with $30,000 EV in 2028

January 7, 2026

• Ford Motor plans to introduce eyes-off driving technology in 2028, starting with a $30,000 all-electric vehicle.
• The target brings Ford into a race against competitors such as Tesla, General Motors and Rivian Automotive to develop and broadly launch such systems.
• The company announced at CES that it’s also launching a Ford AI assistant.

Ford Motor plans to introduce eyes-off driving technology on an upcoming $30,000 all-electric vehicle in 2028, the Detroit automaker announced Wednesday.

The target brings Ford into a race against competitors such as Tesla, General Motors and Rivian Automotive to develop and broadly launch such systems, which Wall Street views as a potential growth market to fully autonomous vehicles.

Ford’s plan is similar to those of other automakers, but the company notably plans to offer the new system on a mainstream EV first, rather than on a pricier model — defying typical technology rollouts in the automotive industry.

“It’s part of what has evolved to be a broader technology strategy of putting our best and newest technology where the volume is and where the accessibility is,” Doug Field, Ford’s chief EV, digital and design officer, told CNBC during an interview.

The first vehicle to feature the new system is expected to be built on the company’s upcoming “Universal EV platform,” which Ford has said is capable of supporting a variety of vehicles. The first is a roughly $30,000 midsize pickup truck set to hit the market in 2027.

Field, who joined Ford after stints with Apple and Tesla, said the first vehicle with the eyes-off system will come at that starting price, but did not disclose if it would be the pickup truck.

Field announced the eyes-off system at the CES technology show in Las Vegas alongside other plans, including a new vehicle software architecture as well as a Ford-engineered artificial intelligence assistant.

GM in October announced similar plans, including an AI assistant and an eyes-off system expected to launch in 2028 on its electric Cadillac Escalade IQ. That vehicle currently starts at more than $127,000.

Skunkworks

Ford, led by CEO Jim Farley, is under pressure to deliver on the new vehicle platform, known as UEV, and its supporting technologies, which largely fall under Field.

The company has wasted billions of dollars amid shifting EV strategies as well as quality and production issues in recent years.

Ford has significantly cut back its spending on EVs and has moved focus from large all-electric pickup trucks and SUVs to smaller, more affordable models through a special project, or “skunkworks,” team that created the UEV platform. Ford announced plans to invest about $5 billion in U.S. plants to produce the vehicles and the batteries to power them.

Field referred to the skunkworks team as a “bet” over the last couple of years that has “started to build a tremendous amount of confidence” over the “last few months.”

“One of the things we’re seeing is just how much faster our development process works on this product and this architecture compared to what we’ve done in the past,” Field said. “So, we have a lot of confidence in our ability to get this out.”

Ford last month said it expects to record about $19.5 billion in special items through 2027 related to such restructuring efforts and its pullback in EV investments.

Eyes-off driving

Field said Ford’s planned eyes-off system, which the auto industry refers to as “Level 3 driving automation,” will utilize an array of sensors and in-house software development to lower costs compared to competitors.

Field declined to comment on the roadmap for expanding the new system to other vehicles, but said the goal is to commoditize the technology.
“The actual rollout schedule will be based on a lot of work we have to do on which customers need it in their applications, when, and which products are most ready for it now,” Field said. “It’ll take time to roll it out everywhere, but we’ll prioritize that based on where we will have the biggest impact on customers.”

SAE International, formerly known as the Society of Automotive Engineers, has characterized automated driving for vehicles from Level 0 to Level 5. The highest, Level 5, is a fully autonomous vehicle, with each stage from Level 0 adding more technologies and enabling human drivers to be more “out of the loop.”

Ford currently offers a Level 2 advanced driver assistance system, or ADAS, known as BlueCruise. While active, a vehicle can drive itself under certain circumstances without human intervention on divided highways, but drivers still need to pay attention to the roads and system in case of problems.

AI assistant, new vehicle ‘brain’

Ford’s new AI assistant is expected to launch in early 2026 through its phone apps for Ford and Lincoln, followed by a native in-vehicle experience starting in 2027, the company said Wednesday.

Several other automakers also have announced plans for AI digital assistants, but Field said he believes Ford’s will offer unique capabilities specific to each car or truck by utilizing each vehicle’s unique identification number.

Ford said the AI assistant will be able to review a picture of a trailer to confirm whether a vehicle can properly tow it, for example, or assess how many bags of mulch the interior of a car or truck can hold.

“The AI companion is something we think we can make special for Ford, representative of what we’re trying to do on the customer experience side,” Field said.

Assisting in that better customer experience is expected to be an updated in-house software architecture that Ford’s calling an “integrated digital platform” that will debut with the UEV platform.

The company said the updated system will result in “a more unified ‘brain inside’ the vehicle — a single, powerful module that unifies infotainment, ADAS, audio, and networking.”

“For customers, that means a vehicle that feels more consistent, more reliable, and more capable year after year,” Field said in a blog post accompanying the CES announcements.

 

[Furai]

Here's the Ford press release on this news:

January 7, 2026

Ford's Simple Vision for Smart Tech: Make It for Everyone

For too long, the auto industry has been in a race to apply technology to products: more screens, sensors, megapixels, and compute that drive up cost. Too often, the most meaningful innovations end up reserved for the elite, gated behind $70,000 – $100,000 luxury price tags.

At Ford, our North Star for technology implementation starts with the utility and joy it delivers to as many people as possible. That includes the families who rely on us daily and the millions of workers who use our trucks and vans as their most important tool.

This is the democratization of technology, just as Henry Ford democratized the automobile over a century ago. If a feature doesn’t solve a real problem or make you smile, customers shouldn’t have to pay for it. Truly impactful technology must be attainable. If it doesn’t reach the many, it isn’t a revolution — it’s a luxury.

Today, I had the privilege of being on the Great Minds Stage at CES. But I was there to speak on behalf of many great minds who are building the future at Ford. I brought Jae Park, Sammy Omari, and Paul Costa, three key leaders leading these great minds. We wanted to share a vision of mobility that isn’t just being imagined — it’s being built as we speak.

The Ford AI Assistant: Intelligence that Works for You

Our vision for the customer is simple, but not elementary: a seamless layer of intelligence that travels with you between your phone and your vehicle. Not generic intelligence — many people can do that better than we can. What customers need is intelligence that understands where you are, what you’re doing, and what your vehicle is capable of, and then makes the next decision simpler.

Imagine you’re at a home improvement store standing in front of a pallet of supplies. Instead of guessing or searching for a tape measure, you can simply snap a photo on your phone of the bags of mulch and ask: “How many of these will fit in my truck bed?”

Within seconds, the assistant analyzes the photo, calculates the volume of the bags, and confirms that you can fit 35 of them based on your Ford truck. It’s a seamless experience that shows how we are thinking differently, integrating Ford-specific data with your real-world needs, even when you aren't anywhere near your vehicle.


To reach the most customers and tailor the experience to each vehicle, we’re starting in the Ford and Lincoln app. A rollout will begin in early 2026 and will reach up to 8 million customers, with a native in-vehicle experience starting in 2027.


BlueCruise and Democratizing Autonomy

Autonomy shouldn’t be a premium feature. By designing our own software and hardware in-house, we’ve found a way to make this technology more affordable. This means we can put advanced hands-free driving into the vehicles people actually buy, not just vehicles with unattainable price points. With 1.2 million BlueCruise-equipped vehicles already on the road, we are able to learn from real-world miles to continuously improve the experience for our customers.

Just as important, we’re focused on efficiency — delivering more capability, not just sheer processing power. Because we own the technology behind our driver assistance systems, we can deliver significantly more capability at a 30% lower cost than if we bought it from outside suppliers, which makes advanced driver assistance scalable.


We plan to introduce new hardware and software, thanks to our in-house teams, starting in 2027 on our all-new, affordable Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform. And we aren't stopping at hands-free driving; building on this same flexible foundation, L3 eyes-off driving will be road ready in 2028, making the ultimate in-vehicle experience available for the many, not just a privileged few.


The Brain Inside

None of this would be possible without a radical rethink of the vehicle’s architecture. Over the past 7+ years, we’ve been building the capability to develop our own electronics. This team has already made a huge impact with deployment into 35 million Ford modules in the field that are of exceptional quality.

The result is a more unified “vehicle brain” — a single, powerful module that unifies infotainment, ADAS, audio, and networking. By doing this ourselves, we’ve cut the size nearly in half while dramatically increasing performance. For customers, that means a vehicle that feels more consistent, more reliable, and more capable year after year.

The Ford Difference

The industry is at a crossroads. Many are outsourcing the soul of their machines and saving their best work for their most expensive vehicles.

We chose a different path: build the capability in-house, fuse deep software and hardware expertise with Ford’s global scale, and make the math work for the customer. Because the only innovation that matters is the kind you can actually use — every day. That’s how we turn the advanced into the accessible and deliver the future to everyone.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Considering the issues Ford has had with software in the Mach E and Lightning, I'm not sure all of these promises will ever see the light of day.

 

[ScubaSteve_TheReal]

Definitely only time will tell as all this sounds almost too good to be true. Time to just sit back and wait and see what actually happens….

 

[G19Tony]

I hope they pull it off. I don't know from day to day what screen I will get when I start my Maverick.