Ford to test autonomous vehicles on European roads in 2017
Ford will begin testing autonomous vehicles in Europe next year at its UK-based Engineering Center in Essex and at its Research & Advanced Engineering facilities in Aachen and Cologne, Germany. The company is already testing its cars in a US programme and earlier this year, announced plans to use autonomous vehicles for a ride-sharing service in the US in 2021.

Ford will expand its on-road testing of autonomous cars to Europe in 2017, the company said today. The company has been investing heavily in self-driving cars, promising to have such a car ready for ride-sharing fleets by 2021. It is currently testing its vehicles in a number of locations across the United States.

“It is important that we extend our testing to Europe,” said Thomas Lukaszewicz, manager for Automated Driving for Ford of Europe. “Rules of the road vary from country to country here, traffic signs and road layouts are different, and drivers are likely to share congested roads with cyclists.”

The cars will be tested at several of Ford’s existing engineering centers in the United Kingdom and Germany, joining a number of other carmakers who are testing their autonomous vehicles in Europe.