Ford recently shared that it will offer its newest version of BlueCruise on the 2025 Mustang Mach-E, which can “smoothly and seamlessly” switch lanes to go around slower-moving traffic so drivers can continue hands-free driving at their preferred speed.

“This is possible because of an all-new BlueCruise 1.5 feature, Automatic Lane Change, developed by our Ford Advanced Driver Assistance (ADAS) team to help make hands-free highway driving even better,” wrote Sammy Omari, Ford Motor Co. advanced driver assist system Technologies (ADAS) executive director. “It will help you stay engaged longer in hands-free mode than prior versions and keep you moving through traffic.”

BlueCruise 1.5 is also designed to facilitate a “smooth and natural drive experience” by attempting to avoid merging with traffic that is moving much faster than your vehicle, avoid moving the vehicle into the right-hand lane where off-ramps and inconsistent lane markings are present, or merging with traffic that requires you to put your hands back on the wheel, according to Omari.

In Ford’s internal testing, on an average drive, BlueCruise 1.5 will automate up to 45% of lane changes, he added.

“Here is how it works:

• • “BlueCruise can perform a single lane change when it detects a clear adjacent lane and there is enough time to perform the maneuver smoothly.
  • “Before BlueCruise makes an automatic lane change, a visual and audio prompt will alert the driver that a lane change is about to occur. A reason for making the maneuver will also be displayed in the driver’s information display screen in front of the steering wheel, like if the vehicle is changing lanes for slower moving traffic or to move out of a passing lane.
  • “A hands-free lane change will automatically occur unless you tap the turn signal in the opposite direction of the planned lane change or hold the steering wheel in place.
  • “If you’re not comfortable with Automatic Lane Change, you can disable it in the Driver Assistance settings.”

Ford says, in addition to Automatic Lane Change, 2025 Mustang Mach-E owners will experience improvements to hands-free highway driving time in a variety of conditions delivered on BlueCruise 1.4.

In the future, Ford plans to share other vehicles and model years that will receive BlueCruise 1.5.

Omari noted that last year in the U.S., about 77% of BlueCruise trips taken were under 20 minutes, according to Ford research.

“And for highway trips longer than one hour, such as road trips, BlueCruise was used more than 50% of the time,” Omari wrote. “Whether people are using it on their daily commute, taking long road trips on the weekend, or during the holidays, BlueCruise is helping make highway drive time easier and more enjoyable.”

Images

Featured image: Pictured is the BlueCruise ADAS feature in the 2025 Mustang Mach-E. (Provided by Ford) 

BlueCruise versions graph also provided by Ford