Not many car enthusiasts will be excited to hear this but the regular vehicle customers are probably going to be happy to learn General Motors is making hands-free driving available to a larger portion of the public road network in the United States and Canada. The automaker announces it will add new roads to the existing Super Cruise road network very soon, basically doubling its scope from 200,000 to 400,000 miles.
Currently, the self-driving assistance system works on pre-mapped divided highways and the new expansion will add additional state and federal routes, combining undivided and divided highways. Below are some of the notable new routes added to the Super Cruise road network:
- The Mother Road – U.S. Route 66
- Pacific Coast Highway – CA Route 1
- Overseas Highway – U.S. Route 1
- Trans-Canada Highway
The update to the Super Cruise will be available to vehicles based on the Vehicle Intelligence Platform (VIP), including the Cadillac Escalade, CT4, and CT5, the GMC Hummer, and the Chevrolet Silverado and Sierra. The new software will go into cars as they are manufactured with the existing fleet expected to receive the update over the air (OTA update) for free “later this year.” Meanwhile, the Super Cruise tech will soon be available on the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, as well as the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Lyriq.
GM says it will constantly add new roads to the Super Cruise network with help from Usher, a company that does LIDAR mapping for the automaker. The manufacturer is in communication with the Department of Transportation and when a change to a roadway is made, GM is notified and maps the section again. Until the road is remapped, the system won’t work in that spot, handing over control to the driver ahead of time. On a mapped road, the Super Cruise hands control back to the driver 350 meters before an intersection and 500 meters with non-VIP architecture vehicles.
Super Cruise is GM’s first self-driving assistance tech which accelerates, brakes, maintains lane position, and changes lanes (on some models) to pass slower traffic. LIDAR map data, real-time cameras, radars, and GPS are responsible for keeping the vehicle centered in the lane without input from the driver.
"GM is all in when it comes to accessible advanced driver assistance technology. We are adding Super Cruise to more vehicles than ever, and on more roads for more customers to experience,” said Mario Maiorana, GM chief engineer, Super Cruise. “We are pursuing what we believe to be the most comprehensive path to autonomy in the industry with responsible deployment of automated driving technology like Super Cruise at the core of what we do.”
