Ford Puma will offer hands-free autonomous driving from 2026

Ford is bringing its BlueCruise ‘hands-off’ autonomous driving technology to the masses by adding it to the UK’s most popular car, the Ford Puma, including the all-electric Puma Gen-E. 

The first car equipped with the BlueCruise technology in the UK was the Mustang Mach-E in 2023, but from spring 2026 it also will be available on the Puma small SUV – which you can currently save more than £2,000 on with our Buy A Car service – plus the Kuga family SUV and Ranger PHEV pick-up truck.

We got to test Ford’s BlueCruise tech back in 2023, and it remains the first and only Level 2+ autonomous driving system to receive legal approval to be used on UK roads. It’s also been approved for use in 16 countries across Europe, making it the most widely available system of its kind on the continent.

It's a step beyond the adaptive cruise control or active driver-assist systems found in other cars because it allows the driver to take their hands off the steering wheel, so long as they still pay attention to the road. Ford describes it as “hands-off, eyes-on driving”.

BlueCruise can only be activated on a motorway, and Ford needs to have mapped it for the system to create a designated ‘Blue Zone’. Fortunately, those now cover more than 95 per cent of the UK’s motorway network.

The BlueCruise system relies on a combination of radars and cameras to track the position of the car on the road, plus a camera to monitor the driver, which can even detect their gaze when they’re wearing sunglasses.

For the Puma, Puma Gen-E, Kuga and Ranger PHEV, BlueCruise will only be available on new 2026 models that are equipped with the Driver Assistance Pack. Owners will also have to get a BlueCruise subscription that currently costs £17.99 per month or £215 per year.

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