ICYMI: Self-Driving World Record Was Quietly Made in SF Bay Area Last Week

As the autonomous vehicle race continues to race forward […

As the autonomous vehicle race continues to race forward and sees competition tighten, General Motors’s Super Cruise technology is vying for first place in real-world applicability.

You can’t go more than a few blocks without seeing a driverless car in San Francisco these days. Waymo ridership has increased exponentially since January of this year, going from 77,000 driverless rides to more than 312,000 Waymo rides in August — with no signs of slowing down.

Tesla’s driverless future is much less bright and shiny than Waymo’s as of late. Elon Musk’s electric car company has seen years-long delays in publicly launching its self-driving “autopilot” feature on properly equipped vehicles. (As of publishing, self-driving features in all Tesla models require some driver engagement or assistance, usually needing the driver’s hands to remain on the steering wheel … or yolk.) Its recent robotaxi launch was widely gawked at and thought to be a hollow grab for positive press amid the CEO’s alignment with fascist regimes.

Amazon’s Zoox is becoming the clown car of autonomous vehicle companies; its toaster-shaped vehicles can safely shuttle as many as six people comfortably inside a car the size of a small city car. When rides become available to the greater public, expect Instagram Story posts showing the starry-night headliners.

General Motors Cruise has experienced a roller coaster ride of public perception. The self-driving Chevy Bolts were lambasted across San Francisco, often serving as the butt of jokes around false promises. But those jokes turned quickly into public concern as people became injured; a woman was nearly dragged to death by a Cruise-operated vehicle that failed to stop. Cruise can no longer operate self-driving vehicles in San Francisco.

However, the Cruise’s driver-assist and self-driving technologies continue to grow with company-wide testing practices and advancements (with General Motors footing the development costs), helping the company leapfrog ahead of others in real-world use cases.

For example: You can travel across Bay Bridge in any one of GM’s Super Cruise-equipped cars … without ever needing to touch the steering wheel. Not even lane departures, merges, or brake stops require input from the driver. More impressive? A caravan of twenty of these vehicles recently completed the journey across the Bay Bridge without a single driver needing to touch a steering wheel — a world first.

“General Motors made history recently, driving all 20 of our Super Cruise-enabled models in a record-breaking hands-free caravan across the Bay Bridge linking San Francisco and Oakland, the largest of its kind in history,” reads a release from General Motors. The first-of-its-kind caravan was conducted last week, right before the SF Bay Area was inundated by torrential downpours.

GM first launched Super Cruise in 2017, which represents the car industry’s first true hands-free advanced driver assistance system — a fitting accomplishment from the same car manufacturer responsible for the modern car as we know it. Super Cruise’s onboard sensors and self-driving capabilities are enhanced by pre-uploaded mapped routes; there are more than 400,000 miles of Super Cruise–enabled roads across North America; most of these roads are highways and all of these roads are roads where lanes are separated from opposing traffic, so unlike Waymo vehicles that can navigate suburban roads, GM’s Super Cruise can’t; that said, it’s entirely feasible to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles the vast majority of the way without ever touching a steering wheel.

The purchasable feature is now available on 20 vehicles across the company’s brand portfolio; for comparison, Tesla’s autopilot costs substantially more per vehicle activation and is only available on four of the company’s five-passenger models; the bemoaned Cybertruck has yet to receive autopilot capabilities.

Moreover: Super Cruise is the only self-driving technology that can operate while towing. Well, let’s celebrate that!

Feature Image: Courtesy of General Motors

Source: underscoresf.com