This week spent some time with the all-new 2015 Ford Edge and even got a demonstration on a new key driver assistance feature it offers.
For 2015, the new Ford Edge debuts the most comprehensive suite of active driver assistance features of any Ford product to date, which will eventually migrate to a wide swath of the brand’s models.
One of the many driver-assistance features available on the all-new 2015 Ford Edge is its Park Assist which can help in a variety of ways from parallel to perpendicular parking. Here we got a demonstration of the perpendicular parking assist.
In our short demonstration ride, the driver and demonstrator drove us along two parked Ford Fusions with a space in-between. Showing how the system is activated, she pressed the console mounted button to signal the system to begin searching for the spot as we slowly approached.
The screen on the dash lit up with a chime, telling that it had found the space, then advising to stop and place the vehicle in reverse then remove hands from the wheel.
When you use this system, you control the brakes and speed while it does all the maneuvering with the steering hands free. Using sensors and cameras it begins turning the vehicle to the right angle to place it square into the spot.
In our demonstration, it backed to a point then required pulling forward to further refine the angle. It instructed to stop, then shift to drive and proceed. Once it was happy with the new angle, it then instructed to stop and place back into reverse.
A short few seconds later the beeping of the rear proximity sensor alerted we were finished and instructed to stop, and place the vehicle in park.
I’d like to note the fact there were no parking space lines painted on the ground, which is one of the key items the system looks for, yet it still did the job. When lines do exist, this process works even better.
While most people may see this as a non-necessary feature, there are many drivers who can be very intimidated by both perpendicular and parallel parking. Right or wrong, Ford will likely do well to provide a solution for them.
