Our Blueprint for Mobility

By 2050 we will have a true network of mobility solutions, and automobiles will likely look very different from how they look today.

Vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies

Vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies will enable improved safety while allowing more vehicles to share the road.

Digital maps and cell-based communications

The proliferation of digital maps and cell-based communications will provide better driver information and entertainment features.

In-car mobile communications and interfaces

In-car mobile communications and driver interfaces will become more intuitive. These systems will be able to proactively alert drivers to traffic jams and accidents.

Vehicle-to-vehicle communications

Vehicles will “talk” to one another, and the mountains of data they generate will no longer be self-contained.

At Ford, we believe that mobility challenges – in urban as well as in rural settings – require the same level of attention and determination that we have put toward developing solutions for the environmental challenges faced by our industry. Where environmental sustainability is concerned, we have been making great strides with new vehicle technologies, alternative fuels and vastly cleaner solutions.

Ford was founded on providing personal mobility for everyone. And our Blueprint for Mobility, which builds upon our approach to our Blueprint for Sustainability, is based on an analysis of population growth, urbanization and other key societal and economic trends. Our goal is to make mobility affordable in every sense of the word – economically, environmentally and socially.

The Blueprint for Mobility is guiding our work and the necessary development of future sustainable, smart transportation systems and the steps required to get there. A key component will be partnership with the mobile telecommunications industry to create the infrastructure and technology needed to allow cars to “talk” to each other and to their surroundings.

In the near term (roughly the next five to seven years), technologies – including some that are already in vehicles – will continue to improve. The proliferation of digital maps and cell-based communications will provide better driver information and entertainment features, while in-car mobile communications and driver interfaces will become more intuitive. These systems will be able to proactively alert drivers to traffic jams and accidents. Increasingly, our vehicles will talk to one another, and the mountains of data they generate will no longer be self-contained.

In the mid-term period (to about 2025), the amount of data that will flow to, from and through cars will continue to increase. Vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure technologies will enable improved safety while allowing more vehicles to share the road. New technologies, such as our Traffic Jam Assist technology, will provide more sophisticated systems of semi-automated driving.

Meanwhile, the first efforts to integrate various pieces of the transportation network will begin, allowing cars to plug into public databases that recommend alternative transportation options such as trains, buses and carpools. Early versions of these advances are already being designed and tested.

In the long term, the urban transportation landscape will be radically different from what we know today. By 2050, we will have a true network of mobility solutions, and automobiles will likely look very different from how they look today.

Everything that is outlined in our Blueprint is technologically feasible. The key challenges are making things affordable and attainable to all customers, and finding ways for all stakeholders – the auto industry, governments, technology companies and more – to make the adaptations needed to the transportation infrastructure.

The bullets below provide more detail on the element of the Blueprint in the near, mid and long terms. The near term focuses primarily on technology that Ford is already developing. The mid and long term, meanwhile, set up a vision of what we think future mobility will look like and how Ford, the industry and society as a whole will need to evolve.

5–7 years Near Term	2017–2025 Mid Term	2025+ Long Term
Ford Motor Company to be at the forefront of developing increasingly intuitive in-car mobile communication options and driver interfaces that proactively alert drivers to traffic jams and accidents. Developmental projects such as the vehicle-to-vehicle warning systems currently being explored at Ford’s European Research and Advanced Engineering Centre in Aachen, Germany, and intelligent speed-control features, to grow in capability. The delivery of a better connected, safer and more efficient driving experience with limited automated functions for parking and driving in slow-moving traffic, building on existing Ford features including Active Park Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control and Active City Stop. Further development and defining of new vehicle ownership models, as already demonstrated through Ford’s collaboration with Zipcar, the world’s largest car-sharing and car club service, and our new car-sharing program in Germany.	The introduction of semi-automated driving technologies, including driver-initiated automated capabilities and vehicle platooning in limited situations, to provide improved accident avoidance and driver assistance features that always allow the driver to be in the loop and aware of the situation in case he or she needs to take control. Significantly more interaction between individual cars on the road through the utilization of ever-increasing computing power and numbers of sensors in vehicles, potentially helping to reduce the number of accidents at intersections and enabling limited semi-automated and automated highway lane changing and exiting. The arrival of vehicle-to-cloud and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications that contribute to greater time and energy efficiency by enabling vehicles to recommend alternative transport options when congestion is unavoidable and to pre-reserve parking at destinations. The emergence of an integrated transport network, featuring cars plugged into public databases. New city vehicle options, as more and more one-, two-, and three-passenger vehicles are introduced to help maneuver on city streets.	A radically different transportation landscape in which pedestrian, bicycle, private car, commercial and public transportation traffic will be woven into a single connected network to save time, conserve resources, lower emissions and improve safety. The arrival of smart vehicles capable of fully automated navigation, with increased automated operating duration, plus the arrival of automated valet functions, delivering effortless vehicle parking and storage. The development of a true network of mobility solutions, with personal vehicle ownership complemented by greater use of connected and efficient shared services, and completely new business models contributing to improved personal mobility.

5–7 years

Near Term

2017–2025

Mid Term

2025+

Long Term

Ford Motor Company to be at the forefront of developing increasingly intuitive in-car mobile communication options and driver interfaces that proactively alert drivers to traffic jams and accidents.
Developmental projects such as the vehicle-to-vehicle warning systems currently being explored at Ford’s European Research and Advanced Engineering Centre in Aachen, Germany, and intelligent speed-control features, to grow in capability.
The delivery of a better connected, safer and more efficient driving experience with limited automated functions for parking and driving in slow-moving traffic, building on existing Ford features including Active Park Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control and Active City Stop.
Further development and defining of new vehicle ownership models, as already demonstrated through Ford’s collaboration with Zipcar, the world’s largest car-sharing and car club service, and our new car-sharing program in Germany.

The introduction of semi-automated driving technologies, including driver-initiated automated capabilities and vehicle platooning in limited situations, to provide improved accident avoidance and driver assistance features that always allow the driver to be in the loop and aware of the situation in case he or she needs to take control.
Significantly more interaction between individual cars on the road through the utilization of ever-increasing computing power and numbers of sensors in vehicles, potentially helping to reduce the number of accidents at intersections and enabling limited semi-automated and automated highway lane changing and exiting.
The arrival of vehicle-to-cloud and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications that contribute to greater time and energy efficiency by enabling vehicles to recommend alternative transport options when congestion is unavoidable and to pre-reserve parking at destinations.
The emergence of an integrated transport network, featuring cars plugged into public databases.
New city vehicle options, as more and more one-, two-, and three-passenger vehicles are introduced to help maneuver on city streets.

A radically different transportation landscape in which pedestrian, bicycle, private car, commercial and public transportation traffic will be woven into a single connected network to save time, conserve resources, lower emissions and improve safety.
The arrival of smart vehicles capable of fully automated navigation, with increased automated operating duration, plus the arrival of automated valet functions, delivering effortless vehicle parking and storage.
The development of a true network of mobility solutions, with personal vehicle ownership complemented by greater use of connected and efficient shared services, and completely new business models contributing to improved personal mobility.