GM is Expanding its Hands-Free Driving System to Rural Highways

GM is Expanding its Hands-Free Driving System to Rural Highways

GM is Expanding its Hands-Free Driving System to Rural Highways, GM announces the broadening of Super Cruise accessibility, allowing drivers to utilize the advanced hands-free driver assistance system on approximately 750,000 miles of roads across the United States and Canada. This expansion, slated for completion by 2025, will encompass rural and secondary highways, linking smaller municipalities and towns.

This move underscores automakers’ concerted efforts to push the boundaries of advanced driver assistance systems, aiming to captivate consumers and diversify revenue streams beyond traditional vehicle sales.

Super Cruise harnesses a blend of lidar map data, high-precision GPS, cameras, and radar sensors, augmented by a driver attention system that monitors the driver’s focus on the road ahead.

Upon activation, the system autonomously adjusts speed, maintains a safe following distance from preceding vehicles, and executes lane-keeping maneuvers. Notably, Super Cruise enables automatic lane changes to overtake slower traffic and supports trailer towing, albeit automatic lane change functionality is disabled while towing, as per company specifications.

Regrettably, the expanded Super Cruise network won’t be accessible to owners of the Cadillac CT6, Chevrolet Bolt EUV, and Cadillac XT6, as per the automaker’s announcement.

In contrast to Tesla’s Autopilot, Super Cruise users aren’t required to keep their hands on the wheel but must maintain forward-facing eye contact. Ford’s Blue Cruise offers a competing hands-free solution, introduced in 2021.

Super Cruise debuted in 2017 as the industry’s inaugural true hands-free ADAS offering. Despite its capabilities, GM wasn’t widely perceived as a dominant player due to Super Cruise’s limited availability. Initially confined to the Cadillac CT6 and restricted to specifically divided highways, Super Cruise’s highway network has gradually expanded.

Over time, GM has integrated the system into more vehicle models, including the Chevy Bolt EUV, Chevy Suburban, Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Silverado, GM Hummer EV SUV, and all Cadillac models. The introduction of Super Cruise with trailering capabilities in upcoming models such as the 2024 Chevrolet Traverse and 2024 GMC Acadia underscores GM’s commitment to innovation.

While GM has made strides, Tesla’s Autopilot’s widespread accessibility has garnered a significant following. Tesla’s decision to standardize Autopilot across its vehicle lineup, coupled with the continual enhancement of its Full Self-Driving software, which can now be utilized on city streets, has solidified its position as a leader in autonomous driving technology.