Consumer Reports: Tesla Autopilot a “distant second” to GM Super Cruise

[banned-66611]

Cadillac Super Cruise has retained its title as the best driver assistance system on the market, Consumer Reports declared in a new ranking. Super Cruise also won CR's last ranking in 2018. While Super Cruise started out as a Cadillac-only feature, GM is planning to bring it to 22 vehicles by 2023.

Tesla's Autopilot came in second place—a "distant second" according to Consumer Reports. The group says it saw "minor improvements in lane keeping performance" from Tesla's offering since the system was last evaluated in 2018.

Cadillac got a much better score—seven points versus three for Tesla—for its driver monitoring system. Cadillac Super Cruise uses a driver-facing camera to verify that the driver has their eyes on the road. The system uses lights and sounds to aggressively alert the driver if they stop paying attention. By contrast, Tesla uses a steering wheel torque sensor to determine whether the driver is holding the wheel. As CR points out, having hands on the wheel "does not necessarily mean the driver is actually looking at the road ahead."

Consumer Reports: Tesla Autopilot a “distant second” to GM Super Cruise

 

[Fernand]

Right. And a dead drunk driver who stares ahead but can't
even react to the wheel move nag is a safer operator?

Altogether Absurd. They are headlining that the GM system
is better for the consumer. People read Consumer Reports
to make purchasing decisions. A system that limits its use to
narrow conditions in the name of safety, actually means the
customer doesn't get to use it most of the time. If there's
merit to the idea that these systems exist to offer safer
driving, then isn't the user who is constrained to use it less
less safe on average?

If driver attention enforcement is so important to protect
the driver, then is it because the system is so prone to
failure that faster manual override is its most important asset?

Yet people who aren't exposed to the risks of any autopilot
malfunction at all, manage to manually cause more accidents,
w/ 100 fatalities every single day. This is twisted reasoning.

A nanny driver assist perhaps appeals to a more luddite
demographic. But to say that the Tesla system is "worse"
is disingenuous. They aren't comparable, as the Tesla
buyer has access to automation choices that don't exist
on the Cadillac. Do they rate a vacuum cleaner lower
because its higher power might suck up your loose socks?

So what's going on?

IMHO after the beta FSD demos were showing a quantum
leap in development, the competition went to work, talking
about how immoral it is to let plain mortals test drive it, on
public roads yet, and pushing the NTSB to "do something".
Consumer Scares to the rescue. The anti-Tesla campaign
is back.
.

 

[LowlyOilBurner]

I agree with those points on Super Cruise and the driver monitoring system. But, as far as Consumer Reports goes, I wouldn’t buy a toaster they recommend even if spit money out when the toast was done.

 

[diplomat33]

Right. And a dead drunk driver who stares ahead but can't
even react to the wheel move nag is a safer operator?

Super Cruise's driver facing camera can tell if the driver is dead drunk and safely disengage. That's the whole point of a driver facing camera. It can do that. The wheel move nag system cannot detect if the driver is dead drunk. That's why the driver facing camera is a better system.

 

[2101Guy]

Seems this is their main reason for the ranking (Safety) vs actual overall capabilities.

Even after two years, Cadillac’s Super Cruise remained our top-rated system because, when turned on, it uses direct driver monitoring to warn drivers that appear to have stopped paying attention to the road.

The fact that Tesla DOESNT have GPS type restrictions on where it can be used, would push me TO Tesla and AWAY from Cadillac. I don't need/want my decisions on risk made for me. Let me make/be accountable for all decisions when Im behind the wheel.

 

[2101Guy]

on a separate note? Regardless of system, I dont think I'd ever be inclined to relax/ignore/not be attentive when on autopilot. Im too concerned about damaging my front bumper/wheels due to objects in road and potholes, recessed manhole covers,etc.

 

[dukedarkside]

well it would have been a good idea to rate the systems according to actual empirical safety data or otherwise keep it out alltogether...
How many safety critical events have there been on supercruise per mile driven vs. other systems on the same roads?

 

[MXLRplus]

Having driven both extensively, as of today the GM Gen1 system is safer, but the Tesla system is more flexible.

Yesterday I was in a Tesla with FSD 2020.40.8 driving in southern California on the 5 freeway, which is the main artery of California. California is the EV Capitol of the World, and the I-5 it's backbone.

I was in the left most lane, and the car turned on it's left turn signal, and the center stack had a small message "Dude? I'm gonna move over to the left." There was no lane there. Wild. NOA is so broken that I normally turn it off, but yesterday I forgot. On the same trip, I covered the throttle in several places where I know it will slam on the brakes for no reason. It happens so often, that I no longer think about it. The CT6 is far more stable.

 

[BobbyKings]

Watch the movie in this tweet that trashes supercruise and please do interpret the sarcasm in the text of the tweet appropriately:

https://twitter.com/WholeMarsBlog/status/1321732764303990784?s=19

 

[yhooo]

I’ve had my Tesla for two months now and use autopilot constantly. The consumer reports evaluation of autopilot is a joke. Autopilot has an incredible amount of functionality that super cruise doesn’t have and isn’t planning on having any time soon. Autopilot can be used on any road that has lane markings, where supercruise can only be used on a very limited number of limited access highways. I use Autopilot constantly on local highways and roads. Lane changes are manual in super cruise, Enhanced AP has automatic lane changes to overtake slow drivers, to position for exits, to transition from one hwy to another, and on demand with turn signal. in regard to driver monitoring the reviews I’ve seen show that the system won’t let you wear sunglasses and that if your eyes drift from centerline the system will shutoff. Also it appears that super cruise is not even available on any vehicles that Cadillac is currently selling.

 

[Az_Rael]

Here are the various rankings from the CR report

 

[Cheburashka]

Thanks for that. The results make sense then, when using those criteria.

 

[82bert]

Watch the movie in this tweet that trashes supercruise and please do interpret the sarcasm in the text of the tweet appropriately:

https://twitter.com/WholeMarsBlog/status/1321732764303990784?s=19

Never ridden in or driven super cruise. If that’s for real it’s current function, it’s garbage. Complete garbage.

 

[banned-66611]

Note that it's not just the camera monitoring system, it's the fact that Super Cruise has much better indicators to show when it is engaged and when the user needs to take over.

A big green/red light on the wheel is impossible to miss, compared with a little icon on the IC in most other cars.

 

[MXLRplus]

Never ridden in or driven super cruise. If that’s for real it’s current function, it’s garbage. Complete garbage.

Look at the steering wheel. If the top of it is bright green the Super Cruise is active. If it's not, either the car is not SC capable or the system is off.

 

[rhumbliner]

Autopilot can be used on any road that has lane markings, where supercruise can only be used on a very limited number of limited access highways.

That’s the part I was questioning. Is it true SuperCruise can only be used on pre-mapped highways? And there are less than 300 miles of mapped highways? If so, that’s ridiculous. What good is that system?

Personally, I like Tesla’s system of forcing me to keep my hand on the steering wheel because it allows me to see the sights while monitoring the self-driving thru interaction with the wheel. When AP is having a problem discerning lane markers it’s readily apparent thru the steering wheel and gets my immediate attention.

 

[Az_Rael]

And there are less than 300 miles of mapped highways? If so, that’s ridiculous. What good is that system?

You can see the current map here: Super Cruise - Hands Free Driving | Cadillac Ownership

Looks like a lot more than 300 miles. I presume they will continue to expand the map considering how many vehicles they say they will add the system to by 2023.

 

[captanzuelo]

Watch the movie in this tweet that trashes supercruise and please do interpret the sarcasm in the text of the tweet appropriately:

https://twitter.com/WholeMarsBlog/status/1321732764303990784?s=19

That looks like more of a burden and a distraction to use. Can't wear sunglasses? The guy's eyes darted right for a second and Supercruise disconnected?

But then again, if it doesn't do the phantom panic braking when approaching freeway overpasses, maybe it does work better than our Pre 2020.40.10 FSD.

 

[diplomat33]

I like Tesla’s system of forcing me to keep my hand on the steering wheel.

Except it does not do that. You can easily satisfy the nags without ever keeping a hand on the steering wheel. You can just roll the left scroll wheel with a finger anytime the screen flashes blue to make the nag go away. And of course, you can cheat the system completely with a anti-nag weight.

That's the whole problem with Tesla's torque system. It does not do a good job of making sure your hands are on the wheel. It is too easy to make the system happy without having your hands on the wheel or ever paying attention to the road.

 

[82bert]

Look at the steering wheel. If the top of it is bright green the Super Cruise is active. If it's not, either the car is not SC capable or the system is off.

I’m referring to the linked video above with a review of the system and to how it functions. Not in regards to how it monitors. The actual driver assist abilities were less than impressive. Again, I’ve never ridden in one. Only basing this off that video.