GM Updating Super Cruise to Add More Automated Features

Like Tesla’s Autopilot and more than a dozen other active driver assistance systems, Super Cruise can automate certain driving tasks, such as steering, braking, and acceleration. Unlike other systems, Super Cruise monitors driver attention by training a camera on the driver to make sure they are paying attention to the road when the system is switched on. Some newer Tesla vehicles also come with real-time driver monitoring cameras enabled, although CR’s experts have raised questions about their effectiveness.

“The additional Super Cruise-enabled vehicles and new features are an important step toward our goal of enabling hands-free driving 95 percent of the time and getting people more comfortable with letting go of the wheel,” Mario Maiorana, Super Cruise chief engineer, said in a written statement.

The GM statement stands in contrast to Tesla’s predictions that its vehicles will evolve to become fully autonomous with software updates, says Kelly Funkhouser, head of advanced vehicle technology testing at the Consumer Reports auto test center. “Tesla is trying to get the human driver out of the picture, while other manufacturers, like GM, are trying to make the driving experience less stressful in certain situations,” she says.

Super Cruise has remained CR’s top-ranked active driver assistance system since we started testing them in 2018, largely because of its driver-monitoring component. Tesla’s Autopilot came in second.

Separate from Super Cruise, GM  also has invested in self-driving startup Cruise, which aims to create a full self-driving vehicle. But until human drivers can be fully replaced by machines, Funkhouser says it’s better for driver assistance systems to focus on automating certain tasks—like long highway drives—that humans might find tedious, while reserving more complex situations for humans. “Systems like Super Cruise let the human do the things the human does well and the system do the things the system does well,” she says.