General Motors announced on Thursday that its automated driver-assist system known as Super Cruise is being updated to cover approximately 750,000 miles of roads in the U.S. and Canada, or almost double the current coverage.
Super Cruise’s last major update came in 2022 when its coverage was expanded to 400,000 miles, consisting mostly of U.S. and state highways. The latest update sees many minor highways that you find connecting smaller cities and townships added to the coverage.
According to GM, the addition of the new roads means Super Cruise now has nearly six times the coverage of rival driver-assist systems. The roads are scanned using lidar to form precise maps that a vehicle’s onboard sensors can check against.
Super Cruise is a true hands-free driver-assist system complete with support for lane changes and trailering, though it requires constant monitoring from the driver who needs to be ready to take back control when prompted. This means it is still relegated to Level 2 on the SAE scale of self-driving capability.
Level 3 is the first level where the driver is freed from monitoring the road, though only for brief moments. Currently Mercedes-Benz is the only automaker with a Level 3 system, though its system, known as Drive Pilot, only functions at speeds of up 40 mph, and in the U.S. only on select highways in California and Nevada.
Level 4 is the first level where the driver can avoid monitoring the road for extended periods, though only within set conditions. Level 5 is the ultimate goal. It means a system that can equal the performance of a human driver.