Ford has said in the past that it expects cars to be fully autonomous in 15 years, and the company just took another step towards making that idea become reality.
The automaker is now testing its self-driving cars at the University of Michigan’s mCity, a 32-acre testing site that simulates urban and suburban environments.
Ford is the first car company to test its autonomous vehicles at this facility, the company says. The site, which opened in July, allows Ford to test how its self-driving cars perform when driving on various types of surfaces, such as dirt, concrete, asphalt and more. mCity also includes different road layouts, including curves, roundabouts, tunnels, crosswalks, and two, three, and four-lane roads.
The auto industry giant, which has been testing autonomous cars for 10 years, is just one of many companies looking into the development of such vehicles. Google has been testing self-driving cars for about six years, while Tesla and Uber have discussed plans to develop similar technology. Apple is also rumored to be working on its own electric vehicle that can drive on its own.
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