The tech In the Ford Expedition is something that Ford Canada was eager to have me try. And I now get why. Even though most cars are rolling computers, Ford has created a pretty compelling package of tech for drivers to leverage.
I’m going to start with the boring stuff before I get to the really cool stuff that you want to read about.
Safety: The Expedition comes with the usual safety systems such as Reverse Brake Assist, Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, Pedestrian Protection and Dynamic Brake Support, and an array of sensors and cameras to keep you safe. That’s along with this handy feature:
Besides blind spot monitoring, when you hit the turn signal, the cameras on the mirrors get displayed on the 24″ screen. Top marks for Ford thinking of coming up with this feature.
Ford BlueCruise: Ford BlueCruise enables hands-free highway driving that helps make driving easier and more enjoyable. Let BlueCruise accelerate, brake, and handle curves, all with the touch of a button. It can even help you change lanes hands-free. I tried this about a year ago on the Mustang Mach-E but that was a very limited test. Having tried it off and on for a week on the Expedition in a variety of traffic scenarios, I can say that this is a handy feature to have. I will say that you really need to get your seating position right and be wearing the right sunglasses to make BlueCruise work properly. I say that because the system is meant to be a driver aid which means that you are required to keep your eyes on the road at all times. If you don’t, or the system can figure out if you are paying attention to the road, it gets very unhappy.
Having said that I tried it out on open roads as well as rush hour traffic. The latter is where I found myself having to jump in and take control on three occasions due to people trying to cut in front of me on the 401 or the QEW which are two of Greater Toronto’s busier highways. Could BlueCruise have handed that scenario on its own? I have no clue and I wasn’t about to find out as that might have gotten expensive.
The flip side is that on open highways the system worked flawlessly. While I wasn’t able to use on the entire drive from Toronto to Owen Sound to do hiking, I was able to use it on the first quarter of the drive out, and the last quarter of the drive back which made life a bit easier given that it was a 2 hour drive each way. The reason why I wasn’t able to use it for the full two hour drive is that this system only works on physically divided highways. Thus if you’re expecting this system to work on the school run on city streets, that’s not going to happen. If you want to go into the weeds on BlueCruise, this review that I did a year ago will help you. But keep in mind that between the time that I wrote that review to the present day, it’s gotten better and in my mind is worth having. It’s available as a one time purchase that is tied to the car, or as a yearly or monthly subscription.
Bang & Olufsen Sound System: I will just give you the specs. This vehicle came with Bang & Olufsen sound system with 22 Speakers including a Subwoofer. And my wife who is a classically trained pianist summed it up this way:
“Every musical note is crisp and clear. There is no distortion. And there is perfect clarity when it comes to vocals. Ford nailed this stereo.”
Clearly this sound system impressed my wife. It will impress you too as I can confirm that this is an amazing sound system.
Ford Digital Experience: Now this is where things really get interesting. While this vehicle does come with wireless Apple CarPlay (which is one of the better implementations of CarPlay that I have seen lately) and Android Auto, Ford also included the Ford Digital Experience which is based on Android Automotive. But with a lot of work put in by Ford to make it unique. For starters, it has 5G connectivity that allows you to not only get WiFi inside the vehicle, but you can roam in Canada and the US without an issue. Speaking of WiFi, you know that I had to do a speed test. The best speeds that I got was 56.3 Mbps down and 78.9 Mbps up. Before anyone says “my home Internet is faster than that”, consider that I did this in suburban Toronto and I might have gotten faster speeds someplace else. Also, these speeds are fast enough to allow three people to stream a 4K HDR show on Netflix and have speed for others left over to surf the Internet. I base that on this article that I researched a couple of years ago. In short, kids on their iPads on a long road trip will be just fine watching K-Pop Demon Hunters or something like that leaving mommy and daddy in peace.
Next up is the fact that it has the Google Play Store embedded in the system. While the apps are tailored for Android Automotive, which means that the apps that you want like Netflix might not be present. There’s plenty of apps for you to choose from. And you can use your existing Google account to download apps. This gets followed up by Google assistant that allows you to not only navigate using Google Maps, but it allows you to change the cabin temperature, or turn on the heated or cooled seats. All by using your voice. I guess that this segues into the fact that everything is driven from the screen and there are not many physical buttons other than some steering wheel controls that incorporate a touch pad as well as a physical press.
Normally, the fact that this vehicle lacks a lot of physical buttons would usually earn Ford some critical commentary from me as that forces people to do everything in via the screen which is tough to do at highway speed for example. But with the Ford Digital Experience, I really can’t criticize them too much. The standard stuff that you would need to do while driving can be done by voice. On top of that, Ford simply didn’t bolt this on and do the minimum work required to call it an infotainment system. They clearly worked hard to create a cohesive system that made the driving experience better and not worse. While I am not 100% sold on giving up on Apple CarPlay for this, Ford has made a compelling argument to at least consider doing so seriously. Your Ford dealer can guide you through what your subscription options are.
Fun Fact: A lot of Canadians worked to create this. So kudos to them as they have come up with something that left me impressed.
So I’ve come to the end of this review of the 2025 Ford Expedition King Ranch. While I am not the target audience for this vehicle, those who are will find a vehicle that is very capable, as well as offering a lot in terms of carrying people or storage. The interior in the vehicle that I drove this past week is top shelf. And the tech is amazing. While I did complain about the lack of buttons being a problem for me as I could not adjust HVAC controls while driving, that was it for the complaints. Ford has really knocked it out of the park with the Expedition.
Now this version of the Expedition is worth $109,955. Not cheap by any means. But Ford has versions that start at $84,815. And they have trims for every use case possible in between. Besides, the target audience for this vehicle will have no problem spending this kind of cash to get a vehicle like this. So I suspect that Ford will have no problem moving the Expedition off dealer lots.
Before I go, I should point out that a lot of the stuff that you’ve seen in this review is either in or coming to vehicles that are at price points that most of us would buy. So you can expect to see things like the Ford Digital Experience, and Blue Cruise popping up in Escapes and Explorers soon…. If they haven’t already. And that’s a very good thing for Ford buyers at all price points.
OVHcloud launches next-generation of AI-powered cooling that balances performance and environmental responsibility in its datacenters
Posted in Commentary with tags OVH on October 16, 2025 by itnerdOVHcloud today unveils a new cooling architecture for its datacenters. The OVHcloud Smart Datacenter combines new industrial designs with AI features, reducing both power and water consumption and enabling datacenters to intelligently react to their surrounding environments. Through this new technology, OVHcloud is able to reduce water consumption by up to 30% and cooling electricity consumption by up to 50%.
Cooling infrastructure electrical consumption reduced by 50%
In development for the past two years, the fifth generation of the OVHcloud server rack has been redesigned to host a new generation of servers and supercharge the Group commitment to a sustainable Cloud. The most significant change is the server layout where clusters of servers are connected in serial when it comes to their cooling, with servers for each cluster being still organized in parallel thus facilitating maintenance. This new design streamlines component layouts including the location of the inrack CDU and helps reduce power consumption at the rack level.
Smart and autonomous, the rack behaves in a “pull” hydraulic configuration so that each server has the right water flow and pressure for its cooling needs. Hardware components such as CPU and GPU are cooled through direct-to-chip waterblocks designed by OVHcloud, dissipating heat through a closed looped water circuit that extends to a single cooling loop across the whole datacenter.
The Cooling Module (also called CDU) is now approximately 50% more compact and is located outside the rack. It can cool down several rows of racks and features more than 30 sensors. These sensors monitor elements from the racks including pressure, speed and water temperature and can adjust cooling settings in real time. The sensors enable the rack to be ‘aware’ of its immediate surroundings and datacenter temperatures and the smart cooling module can automatically adjust to server workloads. This optimization greatly extends the lifespan of the equipment and helps to optimize infrastructure power consumption.
The Smart Dry Cooler, located on the outside, is the last cooling component of the closed water loop. It now takes up half the space and has half the number of fans as the previous generation of equipment. This helps reduce cooling power consumption by up to 50% while also reducing ambient noise level.
Reduced water consumption by up to 30% through AI
By constantly analyzing its surroundings and the behavior of key components, new OVHcloud Smart Racks not only regulate themselves but also collect operational data. Data coming from the racks, cooling modules and Dry Coolers are fed into a datalake so that complex algorithms can determine predictive behaviors, contributing to optimized maintenance. The system can also be connected to a local weather station to enrich the datalake. The new models can predict and inject the exact volume of water that is needed by the adiabatic cooling pads of the Dry Cooler to allow for outside heat exchange.
The new dry cooler design accounts for a 30% reduction of water consumption, which has the potential to significantly improve OVHcloud’s already-compelling WUE ratio. Unlike traditional adiabatic systems, the OVHcloud cooling pad does not feature a recirculation loop: complex hydraulic units such as pumps, tanks and level sensors have been eliminated, reducing infrastructure complexity and simplifying maintenance.
Predictive and adaptative AI for the datacenter and the environment
The OVHcloud Smart Racks’ predictive AI can now anticipate and react to operational dimensions at the infrastructure level including the pump speed (and thus the water flow), the speed of the fans and the opening of valves to optimize configuration rapidly.
Rack performances can also be adjusted based on external constraints such as noise limits, water scarcity or power cost. The algorithm can choose to consume more power to favor water preservation or adjust sound levels to adapt to urban environments.
Spearheading a sustainable Cloud for more than 25 years, OVHcloud leverages a vertically integrated industrial model that contributes to responsible digital technology. At the heart of the Group’s many innovations are the research and development department which now has a hundred cooling patents. OVHcloud R&D has shaped water cooling at scale since 2003 so that the Group datacenters benefit from PUE and WUE indices among the best in the industry.
These new developments follow the Group’s commitments to the coalition for sustainable AI in February 2025. The new infrastructure deployed by OVHcloud in its data centers demonstrate the use of artificial intelligence firmly committed to furthering sustainability across the globe.
Availability
New OVHcloud Smart Racks are currently being deployed at the Roubaix data center in a room filled with nearly 60 racks and 2,000 servers accompanied by its new cooling system. The entire system is expected to be rolled out across the Group’s data centers.
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