Ford Motor Company plans to open a research lab in Palo Alto, a facility that the company says will be its "first-ever dedicated R&D office on the west coast."
According to the company's announcement, the lab will be a "hub for Ford to develop a wide spectrum of partnerships with established and startup tech firms and with universities in the area, such as Stanford." The company plans to open the new lab in the first quarter of this year.
With the new lab, the Dearborn, Mich.-based car giant will be entering a region that already features a number of high-tech car companies, including Tesla Motors and Better Place, both of which are based in the Stanford Research Park and focus on electric vehicles.
K. Venkatesh Prasad, senior technical leader for open innovation with Ford Research and Innovation (the company's advanced-engineering arm), said in a statement that "Silicon Valley represents a deep and dynamic technology neighborhood and is far from Dearborn."
"With so many opportunities and so much potential, our new lab will allow us to scout new technologies and partners in their own environment and continue our expansion beyond he traditional automaker mindset to drive innovation for a better mobility experience," Prasad said.
The new lab would employ about 15 people, according to the Associated Press.
Comments
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:22 am
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:22 am
GM has had a similar lab in Palo Alto for a while (it's next door to Fry's). Not certain exactly what these folks hope to accomplish in Palo Alto, a City that seems hell-bent to drive cars out of existence .. first in Palo Alto, and then being a "world leader" .. in the rest of the world too.
It would be nice if the GM and Ford researchers would share some of their thinking about near-term, and long-term, views on how technology will change motoring .. and what City governments need to do to help these technology shifts occur more quickly.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:25 am
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:25 am
It is interesting to note that McLaren (a high end sportscar) has opened a dealership at Arastradero and ElCamino - not an ideal spot as to get to the freeway for test drives the cars will get caught in traffic. Or perhaps those are the ones speeding on Arastradero now!
East Palo Alto
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:31 am
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:31 am
ANY Corporations that wish to come here to Palo Alto are good for our local economy. Period
Crescent Park
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:54 am
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:54 am
> Not certain exactly what these folks hope to accomplish in Palo Alto, a City that seems hell-bent to drive cars out of existence
Well, let's be fair … just American cars and just for the common people. ;-)
Crescent Park
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:55 am
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:55 am
Agree with Raymond!
To Henry-Ford-Built-CARs-Not-Bicycles: There's no way bicycles will ever outnumber or obsolete our precious cars, so no worries about that! But ah, wouldn't it be nice if they came close?
Adobe-Meadow
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:57 am
on Jan 6, 2012 at 10:57 am
Obviously, the reason that these companies are coming to California is to attract the kind of talent that would not want to live in Detroit.
But only 15 employees is not going to make much difference to the economy one way or the other. Remember that Palo Alto just kicked a 3000 employee company out of town (Facebook).
Registered user
Mountain View
on Jan 6, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Registered user
on Jan 6, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Deja Vu all over again. I remember the Ford Aerospace campus...
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jan 6, 2012 at 12:46 pm
on Jan 6, 2012 at 12:46 pm
What makes you say that Palo Alto "kicked" Facebook out of town? My understanding is that Facebook needed more space than was available here.
Midtown
on Jan 6, 2012 at 1:05 pm
on Jan 6, 2012 at 1:05 pm
@ Paul:
You wrote: "There's no way bicycles will ever outnumber or obsolete our precious cars, so no worries about that! But ah, wouldn't it be nice if they came close?"
Not for the vast majority of Americans who don't live or work within biking distance of the closest train/bus/subway/airport station...or those who desire to visit friends and family in towns and cities that lack such stations.
On the bright side, I suspect that "alternative" energy vehicles are just around the corner...when it is personally economically feasible for them to make sense or become more widely available.
another community
on Jan 7, 2012 at 3:54 am
on Jan 7, 2012 at 3:54 am
Perhaps they will get valuable advice on making all those confusing high-tech gizmos in the center of the vehicle dash more user friendly instead of the driver having to pull over and consult the, thick as a dictionary, owners manual.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jan 7, 2012 at 7:35 am
on Jan 7, 2012 at 7:35 am
According to an article in the Sat. Daily Post, the lab will--
Work on ways to better integrate phones and other personal devices into cars.
Vehicle alert/avoidance systems
Solicit/Evaluate 3rd-party software. Example: locating empty parking spaces and reserving them.
The Daily Post article claims that perhaps only fifteen (15) people will be employed.
Registered user
University South
on Jan 7, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Registered user
on Jan 7, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Normally 90% of the posts on any blog are skeptical, confrontational and generally grumpy. Town Square is no different from most blogs and much milder in tone except for the New York Times blogs.
The Ford announcement does not promise many new jobs immediately but it has important implications. Folks could lighten up a bit and imagine what the bloggers would have said if the headline were "Ford considers and rejects Palo Alto as a site for a new research center."
So this IS good news and reinforces expansions by Google, Apple, Facebook, Palantir and many others in the Valley.
Moreover, the company's explanation reminds us that entrepreneurs come here to be close to a talented workforce, which means the workers and their families must be attracted to live here. We are an innovation center and our economy will be determined in great part by our ability to continue to attract talented folks.
That, in turn, means that part of our compettive advantage must be in having great schools, housing that sustains the job growth and communities with infrastructure and public services that says "Come live and work here, not elsewhere."
Barron Park
on Jan 7, 2012 at 4:04 pm
on Jan 7, 2012 at 4:04 pm
I would like to see the city council demand full mitigation efforts to neutralize the effects (traffic, pollution, noise, emotional distress) that each car Ford plans to test will create. You can't just let a local business put an extra 2, maybe 3, cars on our roads without insisting on this type of preparation. Think of the children.
Also, did anyone consider whether any of the 15 employees might smoke? This is everybody's air, sir.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Jan 8, 2012 at 1:01 pm
on Jan 8, 2012 at 1:01 pm
I would think it's a positive of Ford having an office here - sure must be a high-priced one.
I am curious about the product development -
"vehicle alert/avoidance systems" are mentioned above - reminds me of excessive "nanny technology" being pushed on us (at our expense, naturally) - not sure what THIS involves -- if it's OPTIONAL I am ok with ANY product development -- but wait till the govt gets involved -- it reminds me of a recent discussion on KGO radio about backup camera systems being proposed to be required by the fed govt in ALL new cars here (bringing huge dollars to a certain industry) -- ultimate nanny state stuff, also. Is THIS the "vehicle alert/avoidance" technology?
One thought I have is this increases what we have to pay when we purchase a new car. It is unnecessary for responsible people. Again, optional, I am ok with that. Another thought (from KGO) is that backup cameras are to try to compensate for the inattentive tiny minority of parents who back up out of their driveways without looking, knocking down or killing their own tiny children in the process, a tragedy to be sure. I assume this is a small number of numskulls. The KGO host said he has 6 kids and he wouldn't dream of backing up without being super cautious. Another point was that such parents (the inattentive ones) are unlikely to bother to LOOK at the required screen or pay attention to the meaning of a beep mechanism (however the alert is done), meantime the millions of the rest of us are forced to pay for this nonsense and have it in our new vehicles.
A similar thing is the SW that parents of young kids are urged to buy and install to protect their kids from the vultures and ills on the net. And - what was it - get the "v chip" on your tv (or video or VDR system?) to protect your young kids.
Registered user
Midtown
on Jan 8, 2012 at 6:46 pm
Registered user
on Jan 8, 2012 at 6:46 pm
They've already got it!!!
A GFI chip with an "avoid ghettos" command.
Registered user
Midtown
on Jan 10, 2012 at 6:16 am
Registered user
on Jan 10, 2012 at 6:16 am
Whoops! I meant GPS chip.