General Motors’ hands-free driving assistance is leveling up with Ultra Cruise.
The advanced driving assistance system known as Super Cruise is already available in some Cadillac and Chevy vehicles, but only on highways across the U.S. and Canada.
On Wednesday, the carmaker announced an upgraded version, Ultra Cruise, that will work on city streets and rural roads, along with highways. GM estimates the new version will cover 95 percent of all driving scenarios, including parking in driveways.
GM didn’t list which vehicles would have Ultra Cruise available on 2 million miles of road with the 2023 launch, but said the first car to include the system will be a Cadillac. By 2022, Super Cruise is supposed to be on 22 vehicles across the GM lineup.
Eventually, GM plans to grow the Ultra Cruise coverage zone to 3.4 million miles. Super Cruise currently works on about 200,000 miles of highways.
With the addition of surface streets, Ultra Cruise will look a lot more like Tesla’s latest Autopilot update, Full Self-Driving mode. Tesla’s driving assistant can accelerate, brake, and follow road signs on regular streets, change lanes, and more — and not just on main thoroughfares and highways.
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But Ultra Cruise will also continue monitoring drivers with eye tracking and infrared cameras and an alert system built into the steering wheel. Tesla only has sensors on the steering wheel. It communicates with drivers through the touchscreen.
Another key difference: The Ultra Cruise system will use a combination of cameras, radars, and LiDAR to “see” all around the car. Tesla’s system relies on cameras alone.
Tesla’s FSD system costs as much as $199 per month or $10,000 upfront. Super Cruise is included free for the first three years and then is $25 per month. GM didn’t reveal pricing for Ultra Cruise, but said more information would be released closer to the 2023 launch.
