For Bill Ford, investing in $11B in electric cars is worth it. Making the announcement at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, his enthusiasm for Smart Cities is not going to dissipate anytime soon. They have some big plans for the future of transportation, including partnering with cities in the US to address transportational needs, and to begin to work towards single-platform integration. “It’s not just a science project. We have real, concrete things we’re working today that will make cities’ lives easier. We will continue to build on those things. Each year will get better and better. We will have more to offer the cities each year.”[1] And he has some big conceptual ideas, as well. In the future he sees autonomous cars adapting to the tastes and delights of its passengers. “it may be that you get into that vehicle, probably through your cell phone it will know you. It will know your favorite color is purple and the skin turns purple. That will be a way of personalizing a vehicle too, it’s just different than today’s personalization, which is largely about styling, and horsepower, and handling.” Whether or not we see these technologies in our lifetime is not a question of how, but when. If the Ford Motor Company has their way, the future is almost here. If you’d like to read the full article with Bill Ford, and his experience at the Detroit Auto Show, click here.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/18/16906600/ford-detroit-auto-show-2018
