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takyon writes:

Ford plans to build cars capable of SAE Level Four autonomous driving and have them hit the road as part of a ride-hailing service by 2021:

Building on more than a decade of autonomous vehicle research and development, Ford's first fully autonomous vehicle will be a Society of Automotive Engineers-rated level 4-capable vehicle without a steering wheel or gas and brake pedals. It is being specifically designed for commercial mobility services, such as ride sharing and ride hailing, and will be available in high volumes. [...] This year, Ford will triple its autonomous vehicle test fleet to be the largest test fleet of any automaker – bringing the number to about 30 self-driving Fusion Hybrid sedans on the roads in California, Arizona and Michigan, with plans to triple it again next year.

Ford was the first automaker to begin testing its vehicles at Mcity, University of Michigan's simulated urban environment, the first automaker to publicly demonstrate autonomous vehicle operation in the snow and the first automaker to test its autonomous research vehicles at night, in complete darkness, as part of LiDAR sensor development.

Ford also announced investments/partnerships with Velodyne, SAIPS, Nirenberg Neuroscience LLC, and Civil Maps, as well as an expansion of its Silicon Valley presence with a new campus in Palo Alto.

Reported at BBC, NPR, CNBC, and Bloomberg, which notes that the company is skipping driver-assist steps.

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