One of Tesla’s competitors, General Motors, is announcing new features for its Super Cruise autonomous driving system, which is taking the opportunity to change its name to Ultra Cruise. If it is more efficient than Tesla’s Autopilot according to some, GM is much less impatient and cautious. Above all, the Ultra Cruise could arrive in Europe with… a LiDAR.
A few years ago, Tesla’s Autopilot was considered the best semi-autonomous driving system. And for good reason, it was almost the only one, even though it has been offered on the Model S since 2015. Over the years, more and more manufacturers have embarked on the development of this technology, including General Motors, which now offers her Super Cruise today.
A new feature
The latter takes the form of a level 2 driving system, the development of which was made possible in particular by the acquisition by the American group of the company Cruise Automation. Since then, the company has made good progress, so much so that its technology is now one of the most efficient on the market, behind Ford’s BlueCruise and Mercedes’ Drive Pilot.
But the American company does not want to stop there, as it also plans to arrive in Europe in the coming years. Thus, it announces in a press release a new improvement for its autonomous driving system, with the arrival of the Ultra Cruise. This will involve the arrival of new sensors compared to the Super Cruise already offered on certain models of the firm in order tooffer a 360 degree view of the car.
This device will then be inaugurated on the new Cadillac Celestiq, a large electric sedan which could very well be marketed one day in Europe. So, the manufacturer takes the opposite view of Tesla, who only believes in cameras for his autonomous driving. Although the next version of its FSD (full self-driving), which will arrive with Hardware 4 could sign the return of speed cameras.
As the General Motors press release reminds us, its system is based on the combination of several radars and cameras, while a LiDAR sensor is also installed behind the windshield. What distinguishes itself from the brand of Elon Musk, which does not currently use this technology, present on many cars like the Volvo EX90 and other Nio ET7.
No precipitation
So the Ultra Cruise would allow the car to move without driver intervention in 95% of cases. However, General Motors does not want to go too fast, unlike Elon Musk. The latter had indeed announced that his Autopilot was ” probably better than a human driver, which angered authorities a few months ago.
GM admits that its system is not yet completely autonomous and infallible. As chief engineer Jason Ditman explains, relayed by Automotive Newsthe Ultra Cruise system, which will be launched next year, ” will tell the driver to take over in roundabouts and other intersections requiring complicated manoeuvres”.
However, he looks optimistic and explains that the device will evolve over time. He also takes the opportunity to throw a small tackle at Tesla, explaining that the Ultra Cruise will be fully operational when offered to customers. No question, therefore, of putting these to use as the brand of Elon Musk does, whose FSD, which we recently were able to test, is still in beta test in the United States. Unlike Mercedes’ Drive Pilot, Tesla’s FSD is not yet available in Europe.
GM’s Ultra Cruise driving aids will always be considered level 2 semi-autonomous driving. For the moment, only Mercedes offers level 3 with its Drive Pilot on the Calsse S and EQS.
As a reminder, level 3 autonomous driving is now authorized on the Old Continent, up to a speed of 130 km/h. If Mercedes’ system is currently limited to 60 km/h, this will change as the manufacturer recently unveiled its future MB.OS system which will improve this system. The firm has also partnered with Luminar to equip its cars with an even more efficient LiDAR, pending the rise of level 4 autonomous driving. The latter should not arrive before the end of the decade.
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