autonomous driving Consumer Reports Ranked Cadillac Semi-Automated driving ahead of Tesla!

[G. David Felt]

To say that today the average auto is a supercomputer would be an understatement. Auto's are being asked to do so much now that many take it for granted what they can do and others wonder why self driving auto's are not already normal here after years of self driving auto's being promised. Part of this is computer tech only now getting up to speed, other reasons is adoption by people. 

Consumer Reports decided to check out just how good is autonomous driving and is it more of a Semi-automated driving. Consumer Reports has compared the Cadillac Super Cruise, Tesla's AutoPilot along with Nissan's ProPilot and Volvo's Pilot Assist.

While GM, Tesla and Volvo did not respond to Consumer Reports request for response, Nissan did issue a statement saying that their ProPilot Assist system is available on several models all of which cost tens of thousands of dollars less than the others in the report. While CR has tested the automated driving systems for years, this is their first official in depth testing of the systems. The testing was conducted on both private and public roads to insure real world results. With a system that uses a combination of cameras, radar and other various sensors to map, monitor and react to traffic conditions, each system had its limitations.

• Cadillac Super Cruise only works on divided highways that have been mapped by GM.
• Tesla Autopilot can work on small, curvy roads with poor lane markings but operates erratically in those situations.
• Nissans ProPilot did better than Tesla and Volvo for keeping the drivers engaged but just under Cadillac's Super Cruise.

Over all Cadillac's Super Cruise was judged to be the best balance of High-tech capabilities with car operational safety and driver engagement.

Consumer Reports does point out that Super Cruise is NOT GM's Cruise self-driving technology that Honda has just bought into to help bring to market.

Reuters Story