Will Fords Become Wi-Fi Networks As Well As Cars?

If Ford Motor Company chief technology officer and vice president of research Paul Mascarenas is correct, cars on the freeway may become nodes in a vast mobile wireless network, passing information from car to car, easing traffic and increasing safety.

Currently, Ford offers Sync Destinations, which accesses "real-time traffic information to help drivers plan their commutes and avoid traffic in collaboration with vehicle navigation systems in the car." But what Mascarenas envisions is the entire traffic stream, networked and exchanging information, "in a constantly changing, self-aware network that can not only monitor what's going on in the immediate vicinity, but across a citywide traffic grid."

Such a network could alert drivers to slowdowns and accidents, but could also, for instance, link cars with connected parking garages, relaying information on available spaces. Mascarenas also proposes using the enabled cars as Wi-Fi points, as a broadband alternative.

Ford investigates creating a mobile data network using the cars themselves (Connected Planet Online)