Ford Equips Lincolns with Active Park Assist
Parallel parking will not be as hard as before when technology allows the car to help you out. This will be the case for Lincoln MKS sedan and the new variant of the Lincoln MKT crossover scheduled for release in 2010.
The cars from Ford will be equipped with Active Park Assist that utilizes ultrasonic technology and the EPAS or the Electric Power Assisted Steering to park the car. The parking system helps make the difficult task a no brainer since the car will do the initial positioning for parking, calculate distance and angle, and steer the vehicle right into the spot.
Designers of the system aim to match luxury car rivals from Lexus and other companies using automatic parking technology. Once on production a driver can just relax without any worries of getting a dent or a scratch on his car while parking. The driver just needs to control the throttle and the pedal since the car will takeover steering. It will also watch for any incoming traffic.
The APA will be available as an option for the 2010 Lincoln MKS and the Lincoln MKT crossover.
The company claims that their parking system is more accurate that camera based automatic parking systems which are those installed in the Lexus LS.
The electronic steering of the vehicle during parking also contributes to the fuel efficiency by as much as 5%.
Ford plans to install the Active Park Assist into the rest of their range of vehicles in the near future.