ford is serious about digitizing its cars using new technologies. In fact, it is one of the traditional manufacturers with the greatest focus on modernizing its fleet and the future of driving.
They took the great risk of electrifying two of their greatest icons, the Mustang and the F-150, with great success. And as the launch of the Explorer SUV in Europe, are working on a new all-digital dashboard with a massive, curved 48-inch screen. The first car that will have it will be the Lincoln Nautilus—which is only seen in North America—but it will set the tone for many of the changes that we will see in other vehicles from the company.
After four generations of Sync—Ford’s car operating system—based on BlackBerry’s QNX, the automaker is moving to Android Automotive. This will allow them to significantly increase and simplify software updates to their cars, access to much more software, more functions, greater customization and the possibility of running applications such as Google Maps, Waze or Spotify natively, without it being a mirror of what which works on the driver’s smartphone. And of course, Google Assistantfor voice control of many of these functions.
More function and less distraction
Ford assures that – unlike what we would immediately think with such a long screen – the objective is to allow the driver to focus on what is important and not be distracted by the information presented on the screens.
The company argues all this because for years it has been warned that many screens and a lot of information at the same time can result in distractions for the person behind the wheel. But the new interface of Ford’s new operating system based on Android Automotive seeks to only show what is relevant and be as useful as possible.
Behind many of these efforts is Doug Field, who previously worked in product design at Apple, and from 2013 to 2018 at Tesla, before returning to Apple to be part of a “special project” working group. That is, the Apple Car. In 2021 Field migrated to Ford as the company’s general director of digital design.
Field comes from the Steve Jobs school, and the design of Ford’s new interface is proof of this. In statements to The Vergewho had early access to the new system, explained: “I think the screens should be windows into the interior of the car […] It’s one of the things Jobs taught us. Hardware must, little by little, become invisible and become a window to the world of software.”
In fact, the big reveal of the Lincoln Nautilus’ 48-inch screen is that it is not touch-sensitive and is divided into three parts. In order of importance, from left to right the most critical and important information is displayed first, followed by navigation and finally a section to position widgets such as music player or weather.
But, in reality, all interaction between human and car is done through a second, smaller touch screen, better positioned near the driver’s hands in the center of the dashboard.
From this screen you can also launch applications compatible with Android Automotive or, if the vehicle is parked, access entertainment content, including video games or streaming platforms.
ford has explained that the new digital experience within its cars can be customized for different car models, with different screen sizes and numbers. They have also avoided calling him synca brand that will probably disappear as they adopt a new and renewed graphical interface thanks to Android Automotive.
No news about the new Apple CarPlay
Which ford has presented with Android Automotive in the Lincoln Nautius is similar to what Apple advanced in 2022 when it previewed the future CarPlay. After a year and a half since that keynote in the WWDC, no car brand has adopted it. In theory porsche and Aston Martin They would be the first two, but there is no specific date, beyond 2024. Perhaps during the launch of the electric Macan, they will give us a surprise.
Ford was—or is?—one of the companies that was supposed to adopt the new CarPlay. For now they have chosen the Android Automotive route, and I suspect that many other brands will end up doing the same. Taking into account that only two premium brands such as Porsche and Aston Martin have chosen Apple’s solution, it seems to be a fairly expensive system to implement.