Driving hands-free either sounds totally amazing or entirely terrifying depending on who you ask. I happen to fall somewhere in the middle, having tried it before in small highway segments but never on a long-range voyage like the technology is intended for. But then I got to borrow a Lincoln Nautilus for a few days, aligned with a short road trip that would see approximately 150 miles of hands-free Blue Zones.
Blue Zones are areas of controlled access highways where Ford’s BlueCruise driver assistance feature is available. As a Ford subsidiary, Lincoln started rolling out BlueCruise to select models in its own fleet. This includes the Nautilus 2024, a spacious SUV that starts at about $50,000 but can be decked out to the utmost degree of luxury.
Think: autonomous parking, panoramic vista roofs, door-to-door digital displays, integrated scent diffusers and more. Even with all the bells and whistles, the Lincoln Nautilus can be boiled down to a pair of key experiences: BlueCruise and the Lincoln Digital Experience. I could explain both to you in immense detail, or you can check out my YouTube video where I go over the highlights of driving this swanky SUV on Long Island’s I-495.
Why use BlueCruise? There are really two benefits of using BlueCruise or having a car like the Lincoln Nautilus with BlueCruise. The first of those is in-lane positioning — this helps keep the car within the lines of the lane, correcting any little natural shifting from my hands. But perhaps more.