Ford to build Apple Maps and next BlueCruise into upcoming EVs
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Ford will embed Apple Maps in its forthcoming Universal Electric Vehicle Platform, beginning with a $30,000 midsize electric pickup due in 2027. The move matters because it makes Apple’s navigation services a built-in part of Ford’s EV experience without requiring an iPhone, while also supplying mapping data for more advanced driving assistance.
Apple Maps will provide natural-language directions, live traffic and incident information, place search, EV route planning and battery preconditioning; Apple CarPlay will remain available. Ford is also using Apple Maps road-level data for a next-generation BlueCruise hands-free motorway system, but says Apple is not developing its self-driving technology; Ford’s Latitude AI unit is building that in-house, with an eyes-off system targeted for 2028.
- Ford will embed Apple Maps in EVs from 2027.
- BlueCruise will use Apple Maps road-level data.
- Ford says it retains control of autonomous-driving development.
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Ford is starting to build electric vehicles that come with Apple Maps already installed as part of the car's core computer system, rather than as an app you access through your phone. The first model to get this will be a mid-size electric pickup truck expected to cost around $30,000 and go on sale in 2027. This matters because it signals a broader shift in how carmakers are teaming up with tech companies to run the "brains" of a vehicle, rather than just letting phones plug into the dashboard.
The two companies involved are Ford, one of the largest traditional car manufacturers, and Apple, which is best known for the iPhone but also makes Apple Maps and CarPlay, the system many cars already use to mirror a phone's apps on the dashboard screen. BlueCruise is Ford's own hands-free driving assistance system, already used on some existing models, and the plan is to develop a new version that uses detailed road-level mapping data from Apple to work more effectively on motorways.
It is worth understanding that this sits alongside, but is separate from, Ford's other push into self-driving technology through a division called Latitude AI, which is working on a fully driverless system not expected until 2028. The distinction matters because BlueCruise still requires a human driver paying attention, whereas that separate project aims for cars that could drive themselves without supervision.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters see this as a sensible, consumer-focused move: building familiar, reliable Apple Maps directly into affordable EVs removes the friction of needing an iPhone, while still preserving CarPlay for those who want it. They would argue that EV-specific routing with battery preconditioning and real-time traffic genuinely improves the ownership experience, and that pairing this mapping expertise with BlueCruise's road-level data is a pragmatic way to make hands-free driving safer sooner, rather than Ford trying to build inferior in-house mapping from scratch.
The case against
Sceptics would counter that automakers are ceding an increasingly central piece of the driving experience, and eventually of autonomous decision-making, to an outside technology company whose incentives may not always align with drivers or Ford's own long-term software ambitions. They would raise legitimate questions about data privacy and who controls location and driving data gathered for navigation and driver-assistance features, and would urge caution that hands-free systems built on this partnership are rigorously validated before wider rollout, given the safety stakes of highway autonomy.
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Originally published by The Verge as “Ford picks Apple Maps for its next EV platform and updated BlueCruise”.