Ford Greenfield Labs in Palo Alto

Detroit's carmakers have watched Silicon Valley closely for more than a decade. Software, sensors, batteries and ride services are changing what a car company does. Many of the people who build those things live near Palo Alto. Ford's answer was a research center in Stanford Research Park, opened in January 2015 and later known as Greenfield Labs.

This profile covers when the center opened, what it was set up to do, how it became Greenfield Labs and what Ford says about it today. For the business park around it, see our guide to Stanford Research Park.

The January 2015 opening

Ford opened its Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto on January 22, 2015. Chief executive Mark Fields came to dedicate it. He used the occasion to describe Ford as "not just an automotive company, but also a mobility company," a phrase the company repeated often in those years.

eWeek, which covered the opening, placed the center in the Palo Alto foothills near HP, VMware, Tesla and Xerox PARC. Its director was Dragos Maciuca, a former Apple engineer with long experience in semiconductor manufacturing, product development and startup consulting. He said he hoped to lead about 125 researchers, engineers and scientists by the end of 2015.

The first projects

The early work list, as eWeek reported it, gives a good sense of the center's purpose:

• Autonomous vehicle research and software, working with Stanford University.
• Remote driving experiments over long distances, with Georgia Tech.
• Connected car technology, natural interfaces, consumer electronics and big data.
• Linking Ford's SYNC 3 infotainment system with Nest smart home controls, so a driver could adjust home heating or cooling by voice on the way home.

The Nest link was a local one. Nest Labs had started in a Palo Alto garage in 2010 and by then worked from Stanford Research Park. Our Nest profile tells that story.

Becoming Greenfield Labs

In a 2021 article republished by Automotive World, Ford wrote that it had helped lead a new way of connecting Detroit with Silicon Valley through the creation of Ford Greenfield Labs in Palo Alto. It said Greenfield Labs was established in 2016. We could not find a Ford source that dates the change from the earlier center's name to Greenfield Labs more precisely, so we give Ford's own year.

In the same article Ford said the Greenfield Labs team had engaged with about 2,000 startups to understand their ideas. It said it had collaborated with dozens of them to bring those ideas closer to production. Much of the work, in Ford's words, was simply getting to know people and having frank conversations about whether a startup's idea fit Ford's vehicles or services.

Journalists from Argentina's 16 Valvulas who visited the lab described it as one of three Ford innovation centers, alongside Dearborn, Michigan and Aachen, Germany. Staff showed them work on Ford's Transportation Mobility Cloud and C-V2X, a technology that lets vehicles communicate with each other and with roadside infrastructure.

What Ford says it does now

Ford's Silicon Valley location page, last updated in 2025, lists the address as 3251 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304. It calls the facility one of the largest automotive research centers in the region. It says the site is home to nearly 300 researchers, engineers, designers and scientists and that the team is growing to support what Ford calls Smart Vehicles for a Smart World.

The page describes research at the intersections of social and natural sciences. It says the office is laid out to encourage teams from different disciplines to work together. The lobby is meant to show Ford's mobility work in one space. The page also links to job openings in Silicon Valley, which suggests Palo Alto remains an active hiring site.

Carmakers in Stanford Research Park

Ford is far from alone. Stanford Research Park has become a cluster for vehicle companies:

The reasons are the same ones that drew HP and Varian decades ago: Stanford graduates, nearby investors and room to build labs. Our Tesla profile covers the electric carmaker's long Palo Alto chapter. For the history of the park itself, see our Silicon Valley history.

Getting there for a meeting

Most people who visit Greenfield Labs are there for a meeting with a host. The research park has no central visitor parking, so ask your host where to park and which entrance to use. If you are coming by train, the California Avenue Caltrain station is the closest stop to this part of the park. From there a bike, a taxi or one of the shuttle and bus routes that serve the park will get you to Hillview Avenue in a few minutes.

The park's commute program, SRPGO, lists the routes and has a trip planner for people who work in the park. Stanford's free Marguerite shuttle also serves the area, but its main lines run on weekdays only. For a coffee before or after, The Hub at Porter Drive and Hillview Avenue has a Coupa Café that serves the people who work nearby.

Timeline

Why Ford chose Palo Alto

A carmaker's research lab in Palo Alto is about access. Ford's own description stresses getting to know startups and talking with them face to face. That is easier when the lab sits a few miles from Stanford and the venture firms on Sand Hill Road. Our Sand Hill Road guide covers the investor side.

Autonomous driving has also made the area a test bed. Self-driving test cars are a common sight on local streets. Waymo's robotaxi service now covers Palo Alto. Our page on robotaxis and rideshare explains how riders can use them today.

Seeing the site

Hillview Avenue makes an easy loop by bike or car. Along the way you pass SAP's campus at 3410 Hillview Avenue, covered on our SAP Labs page. A little further along is Broadcom's headquarters on the former VMware campus. Stay on the street and do not enter parking lots or lobbies. For a longer route with plaques and landmarks, use our famous tech addresses tour and our guide to Palo Alto companies.

Frequently asked questions