General Motors’ Super Cruise is, by all accounts, near (or at) the top of the advanced driver assist system pecking order. It achieves its level of capability and poise through geofencing, meaning it can only be used on specific GM-approved highways. When the company announced it was doubling its geofenced area, allowing hands-free access to “more than 400,000 miles” of American roads, it seemed like a major boon for road-trippers across the country. But now, it seems there’s a catch.
GM’s Super Cruise expansion is rolling out slowly, and it starts with one single chassis: the GMT T1XX platform. Specifically, high-trim versions of full-sized SUVs manufactured on or after October 3, 2022. That means the High Country or Premier trims of the 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, the Denali Ultimate version of the 2023 GMC Yukon, and all versions of the 2023 Cadillac Escalade.
After those four, the list will slowly expand out to other GM vehicles “in the coming months” through over-the-air updates. GM didn’t specify a date by which all vehicles would have access to the updated mapping, or did it say the order in which those vehicles would be granted access — or why the initial release was limited to those specific SUVs.
The specific limitation here is an odd one. Super Cruise initially launched as a Cadillac exclusive, before trickling down to the more pedestrian brands. By reserving this update for a specific platform, rather than a specific brand, it plays into a narrative that GM has long worked to avoid — that its brands are all mere badge-engineering jobs of the same model.
Buyers looking to get their hands on that model, in any of its badge-differentiated trim levels, should look to “mid-November” to see their cars start to hit dealer lots. If you bought your car before that, trust that you’ll get the update eventually.