Ford's UEV platform will feature Apple Maps built in

Ford’s upcoming Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform will feature Apple Maps running natively on the car’s screens, the automaker said, with integration arriving in 2027. The company says the system will work through Apple’s new MapKit for Automotive SDK, rather than relying on CarPlay’s phone-mirroring approach. With native Apple Maps, Ford’s UEV will pull map data directly, providing turn-by-turn navigation, natural-language prompts, live traffic and incident alerts, and detailed place cards for search results without pairing a phone. Ford also says route planning will account for charging stops and battery preconditioning. Apple Maps integration will coexist with CarPlay for calls, texts, and music. Behind the scenes, Ford’s Latitude AI team plans to use Apple Maps road-level detail to support a hands-free driving experience and to feed its next-generation BlueCruise highway system, aimed at smoother highway entry-to-exit transitions. Apple stated it will apply the same privacy rules as in its phone app so location activity won’t be tied back to individual drivers.