Ford moves into Silicon Valley

Ford is pushing to keep pace with the likes of Audi and Mercedes-Benz in the race to bring self-driving cars to market.

Mark Fields, Ford president and chief executive, opened a new research centre in California last week, saying that Ford was working to make the best technology available at a price that does not exclude the majority of new car buyers.

"This new research centre shows Ford's commitment to be part of the Silicon Valley innovation ecosystem – anticipating customers' wants and needs, especially on connectivity, mobility and autonomous vehicles," Fields said.

"We are working to make these new technologies accessible to everyone, not just luxury customers."

Former Apple engineer Dragos Maciuca will lead 125 researchers, engineers and scientists at the new Research and Innovation Centre in Palo Alto.

The team will expand on an existing collaboration with Stanford University to pursue technology in cars. Ford's finest have already used gaming software to develop self-driving technology in virtual reality faster than it can be done in a physical form, and examined the possibility of using cars to control home climates.

In summer, driving away from home would turn the house's airconditioning off, while driving toward it would activate its cooling system so it would be cool on arrival.

Ford is also developing more ergonomic seats and giving in-car infotainment systems a better understanding of the human voice.

The car maker is also using technology derived from military drones to put people in control of cars separated by long distances.

Ford says "a person sitting in the Palo Alto laboratory can access real-time video streamed over existing 4G/LTE technology to drive golf carts thousands of miles away".