Super Cruisin’ With Cadillac

By Q4 2019, Cadillac’s semi-autonomous Super Cruise driving feature will be available on 200,000+ miles of U.S. and Canadian highways, 70,000 more than the start of the year. Mario Maiorana, Super Cruise’s chief engineer, filled me in on how that happened.

First, Cadillac sent USHR, a self-driving mapping company, on a road trip of epic "are we there yet" proportions so it could scan divided highways. Next came Cadillac’s “extensive testing.” Some of the newly mapped roads have obstacles like railroad crossings, so engineers had to figure out how to handle interactions with 19th century nemeses like trains.

What sets it apart?

Maiorana claims that "Super Cruise is the industry’s first true hands-free driving technology for compatible, divided highways." Aside from the usual suspects—cameras, sensors, GPS, Lidar—Super Cruise has a driver attention system to monitor whether you’re paying attention or daydreaming.

Bottom line: Maiorana was quick to remind me that Super Cruise is only a “driver assistance system.” Even so, assisted driving is a step toward full autonomy, and Consumer Reports considers Super Cruise best in class.