Way back in the fall of 2017, General Motors became the first automaker to launch an assist feature that lets drivers go fully hands-free. That capability is now offered by a number of other automakers, but notably not Tesla. Since its initial launch with support for hands-free operation on about 130,000 miles of divided highways in North America, GM has gradually expanded where the feature can be used with a 2022 update bringing that total to over 400,000 miles. By the third quarter of 2025, that will expand to about 750,000 miles.
Unlike Tesla’s AutoPilot, Super Cruise has always been geo-fenced as part of the effort to minimize the possibility it will be misused by drivers. Unlike true fully automated systems like those being developed by Waymo, Cruise and others, Super Cruise, Fords’ Blue Cruise, Nissan’s ProPilot Assist V2 and AutoPilot are meant to be supervised by a human driver. The driver is expected to keep their eyes on the road and be ready to take control at any time. All but the Tesla system use infrared driver monitor cameras to track the driver’s head pose and eye gaze. They also use detailed maps to define what roads are safe to go hands-free on.
GM was the first to adopt such maps and contracted with a company then known as Ushr to do high-resolution lidar scans of divided highways throughout the US and Canada. Ushr has since been acquired and rebranded as Dynamic Map Platform (DMP) and still provides the Super Cruise maps. In addition to lane level data, the maps also include other geometric information such as the radius of curves and topography. From the beginning this has been used to provide predictive speed control where Super Cruise looks down the road at upcoming curves and will automatically adjust the speed downward before entering a curve if the set speed is too high to go through the curve comfortably and safely. The original speed is then resumed once the vehicle exits the curve.
Over the years, the Super Cruise compatible road network has expanded first to divided roads without access limitations (unlike the interstates that made up the original 130,000 miles) and in 2022 to rural undivided highways that GM’s head of maps David Craig describes as “city to city.” The new expansion will add more rural town to town roads. The plan is to update the maps quarterly, adding about 40,000 miles at a time until the network reaches about 750,000 miles.
While that isn’t as much as the 2 million miles that were planned for the next-generation Ultra Cruise system that was originally scheduled to launch this year, it’s still several times more than another hands-free system. GM recently announced it was canceling Ultra Cruise without giving much detail, but it’s likely there were significant concerns about safety of operating in cities. Some of the features that were planned for Ultra Cruise such as traffic signal recognition may still make their way into future Super Cruise updates according to chief engineer Jeff Miller.
“We’re looking at anything and everything, we want to provide the greatest benefit to our customers,” said Miller during a briefing call. “We’re focused on more vehicles, more roads, more capability. I can’t tell you what that next more may be, but we’re looking at it to make sure we provide the greatest benefit to our customers and to make sure that we maintain the lead.”
As the road network is expanded, Craig explained that the process starts with DMP doing a road survey in a region, such as southeast Michigan. GM then goes through the new data, classifying different road types and then engineers go out and test the system on those roads to determine which categories are suitable for safe operation. Based on those category selections, DMP then goes and maps similar roads throughout the country. Once everything is validated, updates get pushed to customers. The only Super Cruise equipped vehicles that won’t get updated are those with the first generation version, the Cadillac CT6 and XT6 and the Chevrolet Bolt EUV.
While there have been hundreds of crashes of Teslas while using AutoPilot or the Full Self-Driving beta software, according to Miller, in 160 million miles of driving with Super Cruise, there have been no crashes attributed to the system.
In addition to the regularly expanding road network, Super Cruise has also added multiple new functions over the years including being the only hands-free system that supports use while towing. Since adding automatic lane changing in 2023, Super Cruise will also automatically shift out of a lane that is ending.
Another new feature for model year 2024 is collaborative steering. Previously if a driver took the wheel while Super Cruise was in green state (automatically steering) it would switch the mode to blue and then resume once the vehicle is centered in the lane again. The updated system will stay in green state while the driver can steer to avoid a pothole or other obstacle and then continue as soon as the wheel is released.
GM has also added driver requested offset. Since it debuted, Super Cruise has had the ability to nudge the car over in the lane when passing larger vehicles. Now the driver can initiate this by nudging the steering wheel to bias the vehicle to one side of the lane or the other and then the system will remember that and hold it for a period of time.
Having tested hands-free systems from numerous automakers over the years, GM Super Cruise remains the most robust in terms of its ability to hold a lane, change lanes smoothly and work consistently in challenging lighting conditions. With an expanding road network, it will become even more useful in the coming years as GM adds availability to more models such as the 2025 Chevrolet Equinox and Equinox EV, Blazer EV, Cadillac Escalade IQ and other upcoming models in addition to the 15 models currently available.
