GM Updates Super Cruise; Drivers No Longer Have to Stay in Their Lane

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Super Cruise, the advanced driver-assist system that’s (very) slowly making its way into Cadillac vehicles, has already earned accolades for its precision and commitment to safety. Now, it’s been enhanced.

General Motors on Tuesday revealed the next generation of the system we’re loathe to call semi-autonomous, tapping the new Cadillac CT4 and CT5 sedans as its debut applications. The big takeaway? Your Cadillac needn’t stay in its own lane anymore.

Like Tesla’s Autopilot and a number of other systems, Super Cruise allows users periods of hands-free driving, easing driver fatigue on long road journeys. Unlike Autopilot, however, it keeps better tabs on the driver’s actions, issuing prompts and shutting down if its driver-monitoring camera and steering wheel sensors detect undue distraction. Super Cruise will also lock itself out until the driver restarts the car.

The enhanced system announced today takes what existed before and adds automated lane change functionality, allowing lane changes at the request of the driver… but only when it’s safe to do so.

From GM:

When Super Cruise is engaged, the driver can either tap or fully latch the turn signal to indicate that they would like to change lanes. This will prompt the system to look for an acceptable opening in the indicated lane, while also taking time to let other cars know that a lane change is imminent. If the system determines that the indicated lane is open, the vehicle will merge into said lane. The driver attention system will continue to require the driver to focus on the surroundings during the lane change.

Upon initiation, the gauge cluster will display messages letting the driver know when the automated lane change has begun, or if lane change is unavailable and changing lanes must be manually completed by the driver. The system will display messages, such as “looking for an opening” or “changing lanes” to keep the driver informed on the status of the lane change.

While the 2021 CT4 and CT5 will be first to gain the feature, the revamped 2021 Escalade will offer it soon thereafter. The XT6 crossover, which bowed last year with no Super Cruise at all, might gain the feature this year. The system first appeared in 2017 on the CT6 full-size sedan — a model which ceases production in a few days’ time.

GM credits the new models’ all-digital vehicle platform for affording the processing power needed to make enhanced Super Cruise possible. Other updates to the system include “richer” map information to aid those lane changes (as well as turns and interchange navigation), plus improved speed and steering control. The automaker also claims it’s made Super Cruise easier to activate.

Back in 2018, GM said it planned to make Super Cruise available on all Cadillac models by 2020, with other GM brands gaining the feature after that point. That timeline is now outdated.

[Images: General Motors]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • TMA1 TMA1 on Jan 28, 2020

    Seems like it would be a lot less work just to change lanes yourself. It's kind of embarrassing that such half-baked systems can be marketed as a feature.

    • See 3 previous
    • BrentinWA BrentinWA on Jan 29, 2020

      @TMA1 You can be on SuperCruise for hours and not touch the wheel or pedal once. I find it useful on my bumper to bumper commute to be remarkably useful. It allows me to use both hands to open a beverage stretch out, dig for my sunglasses, etc. I find that once the road opens up from heavy traffic, I enjoy retaking control to drive on my own. It’s also nice to engage on long stretches of flat, mostly straight roadways.

  • ToolGuy ToolGuy on Jan 28, 2020

    "Back in 2018, GM said it planned to make Super Cruise available on all Cadillac models by 2020, with other GM brands gaining the feature after that point. That timeline is now outdated." So we're letting GM off pretty easy huh? :-) [Interesting that newer OEM's with less... "expertise" are held to a higher standard on timeline revisions.]

    • Art Vandelay Art Vandelay on Jan 28, 2020

      It's a trade off I suppose. I'm not aware of the GM systems driving into stuff like some of the earlier ones. I don't think this forum is known for letting GM "off the hook" on much of anything...this just happens to be something they seem to be getting right for a change.

  • Arthur Dailey Good. Whatever upsets the Chinese government is fine with me. And yes they are probably monitoring this thread/site.
  • Jalop1991 WTO--the BBB of the international trade world.
  • Dukeisduke If this is really a supplier issue (Dana-Spicer? American Axle?), Kia should step up and say they're going to repair the vehicles (the electronic parking brake change is a temporary fix) and lean on or sue the supplier to force them to reimburse Kia Motors for the cost of the recall.Neglecting the shaft repairs are just going to make for some expensive repairs for the owners down the road.
  • MaintenanceCosts But we were all told that Joe Biden does whatever China commands him to!
  • Rick T. If we really cared that much about climate change, shouldn't we letting in as many EV's as possible as cheaply as possible?
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