38-42,000 Americans will be killed in passenger cars this year. (it's just an average number that has held up for many decades, I believe)
So it's not like we can brag that we, as humans, are doing that good of a job of mastering the task.
I'm convinced there's room for improvement. But no...
I both cringe and accept the concept of autonomous driving.
I cringe at the thought of ME not being the pilot of the machine. I have been passionate at being the input since I was a little kid and sat down on a Briggs and Stratton powered 2-wheeler. It literally affected the rest of my life...
In all fairness, you can't compare the architecture, or "the team" behind the software with Ford's first attempt at FNV vehicles. I have, and have had, multiple vehicles on Ford's current architecture and so I agree that it has been painful at times. But even FNV 1.0 has improved and I imagine...
Edit: I was typing while @paneubert was posting
I agree that software validation is very likely being accomplished. But there's nothing like suddenly having 5000 or 10,000 Fathoms on the road, in every imaginable environment and use case, and having ALL that telemetry pouring in.
There will...
I think even Farley knows to let this "skunkworks team" succeed with their non-legacy approach?
I only hope the "team" has knowledge of the best attributes of the Legacy products Ford built before/without them.
The Lightning, Powerboost, and Mach-E all have some genuinely world-class...
I'm 99.99% convinced that Ford will equip the truck with all the features of its well established (and received) ProPower Onboard, regardless of whether they rebrand it as something else. Otherwise the Fathom's E-box inverter would only have value at home in your garage.
Ford can't be that...
I'm not one to freak out about subscriptions. They just have to pass the sniff test for my personal value-equation. Afterall, I have all kinds of subscriptions in modern life. Subscriptions are consumption and convenience costs.
Having said that, I will be very disappointed if there's a 240v...
This first vehicle on the UEV platform is starting to look like an American Legacy manufacturer is going to go all-in on a world class value equation EV.
The Powerboost and Lightning both raised the bar on the "utility" of a pickup truck. We have 1 of each in the family fleet. But the Fathom...
I gotta admit that I much prefer the cowboy browns/tans that my KingRanch uses, over the executive/blacks of a Platinum, or my Denali Sierra.
So I'm with you! Can we have a choice, at least?
There are going to be some dealers that are going to be high profile because of their no nonsense approach. If course it will require the initial release dust to settle before everything becomes clear and transparent.
There's already a few well known dealers that sell a lot of vehicles to...
But that doesn't change the point I'm making.
To hope for Fathom success is not to root for the Slate to fail.
Or vice versa.
I abhor the culture we have embraced, and taking the same bait over and over is subjective laziness.
The whole Slate vs Fathom thing is dissapointing.
Why is EVERYTHING gotta be good-team/bad-team.
I choose team-EV truck to prosper. Especially if it's hometeam engineering and jobs.
Having said that, it's probably true that some greedy venture capitalist owned dealerships will try to...
I mentioned the current Bolt and Leaf. Both are fresh versions, priced similar to the Fathom, and are NOT selling. So just being $30K is no guarantee. You have to build a $30K EV that appeal, as vehicles to own and drive.
If the electric "UEV Escape" can carry some cache from a well regarded...
Inexpensive entry level small SUV/Crossover EV's are already available. And sales are dissapointing currently, as well.
A truck probably is a safer bet to get the platform rolling and establishing credibility, while not blending into the sea of Chevy Bolts and Nissan Leafs?
There's a lot of...
The Fathom tire size is far from unique. It's actually mainstream, in fact.
There's no market price-cover for Michelin to take advantage of.
GM, on the other hand, shod the Denali EV with 275/50/24R
I just checked Discount Tire again, and it appears the price has dropped almost $100 per tire...
Michelins, to boot!
The Primacy isn't my favorite truck tire Michelin offers, but I have to admit that I have grown to respect them more as I have put 13,000 miles on a oem set of 35" Load E's on the 9000# Sierra EV.
Wearing even and slower than I predicted. Typical Michelin smooth and quiet...
ADAS may not be for everyone, but it's an unstoppable force in the industry. And I doubt there will be many "software defined" vehicles being developed without it. You'll simply just turn it off if you don't want to use the feature(s).
And while Tesla is yet to manufacture the kind of vehicle...
I have both a Bluecruise 1.4 F150
And a 2025 GMC Denali truck with SuperCruise
The Denali EV truck beats the KingRanch F150 in almost every personal experience aspect I care about. It's magnificent!
But the F150 has far more comfortable driver's cockpit. Especially on long hauls beyond a...