Ford is one of the many companies working on self-driving cars. The company launched its fleet of 10 first-generation Fusion Hybrid self-driving car technology development vehicles about three years ago and they have gradually been improved over time. The car manufacturer has now confirmed that it’s going to unveil a new Fusion Hybrid autonomous development car at the Consumer Electronics Show 2017 next month.
Ford has gradually increased the capabilities of its self-driving research vehicles. They are now capable of driving on roads covered with snow and even operating in the dark without the headlights switched on.
The company is going to expand its fleet of self-driving research cars with 20 next-generation Fusion Hybrid units that will bring up the total number of the cars in this fleet to 30. The new car is going to be unveiled by the company at CES 2017 next month.
The next-generation research cars are based on Ford’s Fusion Hybrids. The improvements that have been made include new hardware that allows for more processing power, new Lidar sensors, and electrical controls.
The new car apparently has so much computing power to help the company refine its self-driving car technology that the Fusion Hybrid’s battery pack wasn’t big enough to power it so Ford has fitted it with an additional generator.
Ford says that all the data that this car collects amounts to more than 1 terabyte in just one hour. The company plans on expanding the fleet to 90 vehicles by next year to achieve its aim of putting self-driving cars on public roads by 2021.