GM’s Super Cruise Better Than Tesla’s Autopilot, Says Consumer Reports
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The GM Super Cruise hands-free driving system is superior to the Tesla Autopilot system with regard to detecting driver inattentiveness, according to a new study conducted by Consumer Reports.
The publication recently tested a variety of driver assistance systems that are currently on the market and found that “many don’t go far enough to keep drivers engaged with the road while the vehicle is automating certain driving tasks.” In its tests, only Super Cruise was able to properly detect when the driver was not looking at the road ahead and disengage the system, with Tesla Autopilot and similar systems from Subaru and BMW coming up short.
The latest version of Tesla Autopilot features in-car cameras that monitor the driver and are intended to detect when they are not looking at the road ahead or are inattentive. According to CR, which tested this system in both a Tesla Model S and Model Y, drivers could still use autopilot if they were looking away from the road or using their phones. CR editors were also able to use Autopilot after covering up the in-car cameras completely.
“It’s quite a disappointment that Tesla has a driver monitoring camera, yet they aren’t actually requiring it to be used when Autopilot and FSD are engaged,” one CR editor said.
Super Cruise, by comparison, adequately used its infrared cameras to track the driver’s eye and head movements and disengaged the system when it found they were not paying attention. GM’s own Super Cruise steering wheel also features a light bar that changes from Green to Red when the system is disengaging, clearly warning the driver that they need to take over the controls. “It’s very easy to understand and see how Super Cruise’s driver monitoring is shaping the behavior of the operator,” another CR editor explained.
GM will be looking to grow its advantage in semi-autonomous driving space with the introduction of its Ultra Cruise system in 2023. GM says Ultra Cruise will “enable hands-free driving in 95 percent of all driving scenarios,” and will eventually be compatible “on every paved road in the U.S. and Canada.” Like Super Cruise, this system will use infrared cameras to detect driver alertness and ensure they are paying attention while it is engaged.
Tesla did not provide a comment to CR regarding its Autopilot findings, with the publication noting the automaker has not responded to any of its inquiries since the spring of 2019.
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Except GM only puts it in 80k vehicles, basically useless for the common man.
It’s in the Bolt EUV as well.
Got to recoup the development before you make it standard.
If they made it an option you would not pay for it on a lower priced car.
Listen before speaking and the Bolt EUV tops out at 44,000.
Bolt EUV has it and it’s under 35K
Model 3 owner here, Autopilot is only good in fair weather. Hard rain or snow and its completely useless, even the cruise control doesn’t work when its that slushy snow. Ridiculous.
Even a blind Squirrel (CR) can find an acorn.
Considering NHTSA has an investigation about drivers playing video games in teslas, hmm, does the driver have to pay attention to the road? I also saw a positive spin to an article where a guy was still going while helping his wife deliver a baby. Was he paying attention to the road? Tesla is teflon, nothing seems to be bad press. I expect a positive spin on drivers playing video games in responses to my post here in 3… 2….. 1….
People don’t buy Teslas so they can drive around playing solitaire. You can just as easily put a laptop on the seat and do that in a Corolla. And the story about a guy delivering his wife’s baby while the car was on autopilot is a load of hogwash.
I’d already called GM eating off Tesla’s plate when the Brightseat and Hummer was in customer’s hands before CT, even before this article the press was saying SC was better than autopilot.
SuperCruise is better then Tesla’s A/P when it comes to driver monitoring, but the newer Gm superCruise equipped vehicle like HummerEv and the refreshed Silverado/ Sierra pickups also have auto lane change, and self park features Tesla customers have to upgrade to FSD at a cost of $10K to get. The new SuperCruise also works while towing, which is class exclusive.
Tesla A/P uses steering torque to monitor the driver, trouble is tiniest movements of the wheel are sometimes not noticed, and if you move the steering wheel too much the A/P disengages abruptly, which is not great.
So Super Cruise will disengage the system if you pass out? Great job there guys. Someone is unconsciousness and you cut out the only system that’s keeping them alive because they aren’t “paying attention.”
Right because normal cars also keep on driving if the driver goes into a diabetic coma. Totally valid critique……
It’s worse than normal cars because self-driving cars have the choice to keep you safe and the designers chose to turn it off by design. What we need is a medical mode that can notify emergency services while keeping the car on the road.
To say that doesn’t make any sense is an understatement. You’re aware that what you’re saying would just encourage extremely negligent driving? People just not paying any attention at all going down the highway? There has to be a disengage feature if you aren’t attentive or present. The system isn’t a futuristic movie where the car can get you to your destination and park lol. When it turns off the car will slow to a stop if you’re not paying attention, worst case you’d get rear ended and unless you were on a mountain road you probably won’t die as the slow down still turns on the brake lights and will fully stop the car (on electric cars)
If we can be trusted to drive a non-automated vehicle that weighs thousands of pounds over 60mph down the road, then why can’t we be trusted to monitor a semi-autonomous system without cameras staring at us? We may as well mandate cameras in all vehicles and give police a livestream into all our driving habits because that’s the next step. The only reason I can conceive of GM’s decision to disengage the system is because of a fear of lawsuits. But if someone passes out, then that makes the driving experience less safe for all of us.
People are easily distracted. If not engaged fully people tend to turn their interest to other things and that is where the problems begin.
Tesla. Is being investigated for video games now on the screen while driving. People have been seen sleeping with the Tesla system.
Dang straight GM is looking to prevent lawsuits. Why should they be responsible if someone refuses to use a system properly then try to sue them in court.
Page 206 user manual
Super Cruise will not maintain the
vehicle’s speed while the steering wheel
light bar is flashing red. If the steering
wheel light bar flashes red, immediately
resume manual steering to prevent
serious injury or death. If you do not
resume manual steering, the vehicle will
begin to slow in the same lane and
eventually come to a complete stop on
the road.
Exactly. If you’re going to criticize at least know what you’re talking about…
This has been considered.
“THIRD ALERT
If the steering-wheel light bar flashes red for too long, a voice prompt will be heard. You should take over steering immediately; otherwise, the vehicle will slow in your lane of travel and eventually brake to a stop, as well as prompt an Emergency-Certified OnStar Advisor to call into the vehicle to check on you. Super Cruise and Adaptive Cruise Control will disengage.”
Source: https://www.cadillac.com/ownership/vehicle-technology/super-cruise
My concern is the stopping in the lane of travel. Perhaps in the future it will be able to “pull over” and get off the road for greater safety.
Good. I commend them for contacting OnStar, and I agree with you about pulling over. Since the system understands lane changes, this shouldn’t be too far off.
If he is drunk or sick he needs to call the other autopilot…UBER!
Spotted the triggered Tesla fanboi.
Misleading title much? It’s sad to see second rate websites trying to dig up views by writing attention getting headlines which lead to false assumptions when people don’t click through and actually read them. “… with regard to detecting driver inattentiveness,” add this to your title. Congrats on helping perpetuate the culture of misinformation.
‘The GM Super Cruise hands-free driving system is superior to the Tesla Autopilot system with regard to detecting driver inattentiveness’. I guess the last part of the sentence was too long to fit in the headline. Oh, well, not that important.
Tesla cars are light years ahead of gm. Selling thousands per day. And gm? Well………………………….
Selling thousands of electric cars more than GM is right. Not cars overall.
I sure hope it’s better than GMs adaptive cruise. My Denali was horrible compared to my Tesla. A passing car would trigger hard braking. Sun at the front would disable the system.
Silly the radars are doing their job. Haven’t heard how many people Tesla auto pilot has killed!
Super Cruise is by far superior to any thing tesla has. Tesla is going to go along the way side. In 5 to 10 years.. tesla who?
bro but tesla are way safer than any other cars
…with the price of some of these models…drivers are too broke to PAY attention…maintain
Another reason Teslas have such a high fatality rate and Nissan and Chevy EVs have an extremely low fatality rate. Better by design.