Ford And CES 2017: Automaker Gives Glimpse Of New Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Development Car

Ford gave a glimpse of its next generation Fusion Hybrid self-driving car Wednesday in a video.

The car, which will be revealed at CES 2017 and the North American International Show in January, is the next-generation of hybrid autonomous cars, the company said. Ford launched its first-generation Fusion Hybrid autonomous research vehicles three years ago.

The new car has the current Ford autonomous vehicle platform, but revamps the processing power with new computer hardware. The vehicle also comes with new electrical controls and two 360-degree view LiDAR sensors, which have a sleeker design and more targeted field of vision, Ford says.

The car’s updates are focused on its virtual driver system, with the vehicle’s brain located in the trunk. In it, the equivalent of several high-end computers generate 1 terabyte of data an hour (more than what the average person would use in mobile-phone data in 45 years), the company says.

The car’s virtual driver system is made up of algorithms for localization and path planning, computer vision and machine learning, highly detailed 3D maps and computational and electronics horsepower, Ford says.

“This new development vehicle brings Ford a step closer in its commitment to offer a fully autonomous vehicle in 2021 for ride-sharing and ride-hailing services,” said Ford Autonomous Vehicle Development chief program engineer Chris Brewer. “For now, the car still comes with a steering wheel and pedals — equipment our ride-sharing vehicles ultimately won’t include.

Here is a trailer of the new car:

Back in August, Ford announced it was collaborating with four startups to improve its autonomous vehicle development, expanding its Silicon Valley team and Palo Alto campus. Ford partnered with startups Velodyne, which probably helped with the new model’s Lidar sensors, SAIPS, Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC and Civil Maps, which focuses on 3D mapping.