Skip to main content

GM unveils more advanced version of its Super Cruise driver-assist system

General Motors (GM) has unveiled its most advanced driver-assist system to date, called Ultra Cruise.

The new technology will exist alongside its established Super Cruise driver-assist system, with the Super version to remain available on its more mainstream vehicles and Ultra reserved for its premium motors, the American auto giant said this week.

GM describes Ultra Cruise as “an all-new, advanced driver-assistance technology and significant next step in the company’s journey to enable its goal of zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion,” adding that drivers will be able to travel “across nearly every road including city streets, subdivision streets, and paved rural roads, in addition to highways.”

The Detroit-headquartered automaker said the new system will ultimately allow for hands-free driving “in 95% of all driving scenarios … on every paved road in the U.S. and Canada.”

GM executive Doug Parks said Ultra Cruise will offer a “door-to-door hands-free driving experience,” a significant improvement on Super Cruise, which is currently limited to highway driving.

Coming to Cadillacs

Launching with Cadillac vehicles in 2023, Ultra Cruise will utilize a combination of cameras, radars, and LiDAR, and will be good for more than 2 million miles of roads, with that figure increasing to 3.4 million miles over time.

As per the automaker, Ultra Cruise will:

  • provide users with information based on their experience with the system through an all-new dynamic display
  •  react to permanent traffic control devices
  • follow internal navigation routes
  •  maintain headway; follow speed limits
  •  support automatic and on-demand lane change
  • support left- and right-hand turns
  • support close object avoidance
  • support parking in residential driveways

Automakers — Tesla, Ford, Audi, and BMW among them — have in recent years been investing heavily in creating advanced driver-assist systems designed to take the stress out of driving and improve safety. While the technology falls short of making the vehicles fully autonomous, the features are improving all the time, as evidenced by GM’s latest effort.

“The combination of Ultra Cruise for premium offerings and Super Cruise for lower-cost products will enable us to offer driver-assist technology across price points and segments,” Parks added. There’s no word yet on how much buyers will have to pay to have Ultra Cruise added to their vehicle, but we’ll be sure to update just as soon as we know.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
How GM’s Cruise self-driving cars navigate around double-parked vehicles
Cruise Automation Chevrolet Bolt EV in San Francisco

How Cruise Self-Driving Cars Navigate Double-Parked VehiclesFor self-driving cars, learning the rules of the road is just the beginning. Cars can be programmed to acknowledge stop signs and obey speed limits, but it's much harder to account for the unpredictability of human drivers. Double-parked cars are a common sight in most cities, so General Motors' Cruise autonomous-driving division is teaching its prototype self-driving cars how to navigate around them.

Before it can do anything, a self-driving car needs to figure out whether a vehicle in front of it is double parked. To do this, the car can use "contextual cues," such as the appearance of hazard lights, or the amount of time a vehicle has been stationary, according to a Cruise blog post. Self-driving cars can also recognize if the vehicle in front is a type that tends to double park frequently, such as a delivery truck. Cruise's cars rely on cameras, radar, and lidar to "see" what's around them, and machine learning to synthesize information into a conclusion. Human beings do this all the time, but it's something autonomous cars must be painstakingly taught.

Read more
Cadillac’s Super Cruise system adds 70,000 miles of compatible highway
the current state of autonomous vehicles cadillac  s super cruise system

Cadillac's Super Cruise driver-assist system allows the car to take over steering, acceleration, and braking on divided highways -- but only the ones Cadillac has thoroughly mapped. Now Cadillac is giving owners more room to cruise. The General Motors luxury brand is adding 70,000 miles of Super Cruise-compatible highway in the United States and Canada. Cadillac hopes to have 200,000 miles available by the end of 2019.

Super Cruise is already available on 130,000 miles of North American limited-access highway, according to Cadillac. The system is essentially Cadillac's equivalent to Tesla Autopilot, but there are some important differences. Super Cruise uses radar, cameras, and lidar to guide the car, but Autopilot lacks lidar. Cadillac also uses a camera to ensure drivers are paying attention. Tesla has no such driver-monitoring system; it relies on sensors detect the driver's hands on the wheel. That hasn't been enough to prevent drivers from misusing Autopilot, however.

Read more
Watch Cruise Automation’s driverless car perform one of the trickiest maneuvers
Cruise

Self-Driving Cruise Car Makes 1,400 Left Turns in San Francisco Every Day

Making an unprotected left turn in an urban environment is one of the trickiest maneuvers drivers have to perform. Crossing the path of oncoming traffic, judging the speed of approaching vehicles, keeping your eyes peeled for motorcycles and bikes, and watching for pedestrians stepping off the sidewalk force the driver to proceed with a great deal of caution. Accident statistics confirm that it doesn’t always work out.

Read more