General Motors will roll out an update doubling the reach of its hands-free Super Cruise driver assistance system beginning this month.
We’ve known since August that the update was coming. But an announcement this week tells us drivers of full-size SUVs can expect to get it first.
Driving Assistance, Not Self-Driving
Super Cruise is not an autonomous driving system. It allows drivers to remove their hands from the wheel on specific pre-mapped highway routes. But they must remain alert and ready to take over the driving at a moment’s notice. Cameras inside the car monitor the driver and shut the system off if the driver’s attention drifts from the road.
Super Cruise works on about 200,000 miles of pre-mapped highway. This summer, GM announced that it had completed mapping for about 200,000 more miles in the U.S. and Canada and would add those routes to the system soon.
Big SUVs Get It First
The new maps will roll out as an over-the-air software update beginning this week, GM says, to the following vehicles:
- 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe – High Country and Premier trims
- 2023 Chevrolet Suburban – High Country and Premier trims
- 2023 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV and Escalade-V
- 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate
Other Super-Cruise-equipped vehicles will get it later, including the Cadillac CT4 and CT5, the GMC Hummer EV, and the GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado trucks.
A recent study warned that many drivers have begun treating systems like Super Cruise as self-driving technology. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that 53% of Super Cruise users were comfortable eating, texting, and doing other tasks that take their attention from the road while the system is engaged.
