Ford Motor Co. has long been silent on its intentions around fully autonomous vehicles, but a recent announcement detailed the legacy car maker’s plans for self-driving cars to hit production lines by 2021.

Dr. Ken Washington, VP of Research and Advanced Engineering at Ford Motor Co., spoke with with John Furrier (@furrier), host of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, at its Ford Innovation and Research Center Campus in Palo Alto, California, as part of a special on-the-ground segment during the Ford Innovation Day event. Washington discussed the recent announcement, the concern the public has expressed over the safety of self-driving technology, and Ford’s autonomous vehicle strategy.

Autonomy is the future of consumer transportation

“We are at a pivotal time in the history of the automotive industry,” explained Washington. “Automation for the vehicle is as big as the introduction of the moving assembly line more than 100 years ago.”

Ford feels a similar revolution is at hand in terms of self-driving vehicles. The technology is there, as is the demand, and the company is poised to take the lead and bring them to the general public over the next several years, according to Washington.

“We’re going to make mobility and having Transportation-as-a-Service available to the masses by putting a fully autonomous vehicle into a ride or a ride-sharing or a ride service in the year 2021,” said Washington.

Concerns over technology

Every user of modern technology, from computer operating systems to mobile devices, is familiar with standard failures – OS crashes to service outages. Those concerns are compounded when factoring the life-changing effects of outsourcing vehicle operation to software. Tesla’s been a high profile case study underlying the real world implications of self-driving cars, plagued with a fatal crash earlier this year.

Ford is acutely aware of these concerns, particularly when in respect to an automobile that will be making all your driving decisions for you. So the company has taken the time (10 years, according to Washington) to develop a comprehensive plan for deployment, including safety, driver recovery and operability strategies.

“We haven’t been very vocal about talking about our autonomous vehicle strategy and plans, because we’re not in a race to do it first,” said Washington. “We are focused on doing what’s right for our customers.”

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the Ford Innovation Days.

Photo by SiliconANGLE