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US auto giant Ford offered new details on its self-driving car project in a blog post on Medium by president of global markets Jim Farley.

He revealed that the automaker will be unveiling a new self-driving car design that eschews the LiDAR units on the car's rearview mirrors that help it visualize the world around it, and replaces them with a smaller unit on top of the car. In addition, Ford will test this new vehicle design on the public roads of a yet-to-be announced city starting next year, according to Reuters.

Farley elaborated by saying that the automaker has been researching and developing self-driving technologies for more than a decade, and is now looking beyond development to see how it can monetize them through commercial services.

Farley wrote that Ford is seeking to "prioritize the movement of goods and people based off its existing partnerships and relationships" with its self-driving technologies.While Farley didn't offer much more detail, the company is exploring the idea of operating its own ride-hailing service. Additionally, these comments may mean the new vehicle design could be used as part of a delivery fleet, possibly for logistics providers like UPS or FedEx, representing an opportunity for these companies to slash labor costs by eliminating the need for a driver.

Ford could also explore opportunities in the nascent autonomous trucking market, which, as BI Intelligence detailed in a recent report, represents a significant near-term revenue opportunity for auto companies and logistics providers, since even semi-autonomous trucking tactics can save time and fuel, the largest current costs to fleet operators and logistics companies.

Ford's growing portfolio of mobility services and partnerships could be helpful for launching an autonomous ride-hailing or mobility service. The auto giant's Chariot shuttle-based mobility service, which is already growing in San Francisco, New York, and a handful of other cities, may soon expand to Seattle and London.

Chariot allows customers to book seats on the shuttles through a mobile app, and Ford could seek to integrate its self-driving technologies into these shuttle buses, in a similar fashion to mobility firm Navya's setup in London. In addition, Ford agreed to join Lyft's open self-driving car platform earlier this year, which gives it an easy avenue for deploying cars and pulling in revenue from rides, without needing to do the legwork of building its own ride-hailing service. Overall, it's clear that Ford has multiple paths to generating revenue from the massive investments it's made in self-driving technologies over the past 10 years.

The self-driving car is no longer a futuristic fantasy. Consumers can already buy vehicles that, within a few years time, will get software updates enabling them to hit the road without the need for a driver.

This autonomous revolution will upend the automotive sector and disrupt huge swaths of the economy, while radically improving energy efficiency and changing the way people approach transport around the world.

Automakers and tech companies are racing to develop the technology that will power self-driving cars in the coming years. That tech is advancing, but leaves observers with a bigger question: will consumers trust driverless car tech, and will they want to use autonomous cars?

Peter Newman, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on self-driving cars that:

Sizes the current and future self-driving car market, forecasting shipments and projecting installed base.

Explains the current state of technology, regulation, and consumer perception.

Analyzes how the development of autonomous cars will impact employment and the economy.

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