1972 Coupe De Ville on 2040-cars

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GM doubles miles open to its Super Cruise technology

DETROIT — General Motors said on Wednesday owners of certain vehicles equipped with its Super Cruise assisted driving system will now be able to use it on 400,000 miles (643,740 km) of North American roads, doubling the current operating area as Tesla and other automakers race to deploy hands-free cruising technology. GM's Super Cruise system, like Tesla's Autopilot system, is a driver assistance system, and does not enable true autonomous driving. Spurred by Tesla's aggressive deployment of Autopilot, and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk's promises of a more advanced "Full Self Driving" system, GM, Ford, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are racing to deploy competing partial automation technology in major markets. At the same time, safety regulators are showing concern that drivers do not understand that Autopilot and similar systems are not designed to take over driving in every circumstance. The GM system's sensors and software allow a motorist to cruise with hands off the wheel on highways that have been mapped in detail. But the driver is expected to stay alert and ready to take over the car. GM uses technology to monitor the driver, and Super Cruise will sound alarms or slow the car to a stop if it detects that a driver is not responding. Starting later this year, GM plans to enable vehicles equipped with Super Cruise and the company's latest vehicle electronic system to operate hands-free on major, undivided highways in the United States and Canada, as well as additional miles of divided, interstate highways. Currently, Super Cruise operates only on interstate, divided highways. The expansion, enabled by wider digital mapping, will allow owners of properly equipped GM vehicles to cruise hands-free on stretches of Route 66 and the Pacific Coast Highway in the U.S. West or the Trans-Canada highway in Western Canada, GM said. Many of the new roads GM has mapped are in rural, heartland states where GM pickup trucks are popular. GM plans to offer Super Cruise as an option on its Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra large pickups later this year. GM has said previously it intends to offer Super Cruise as an option on 22 models by the end of 2023. Depending on the model, Super Cruise costs $2,200 to $2,500 to add as an option. (Reporting by Joe White in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis) Related video: Cadillac Chevrolet GM GMC Technology Super Cruise

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Twin-turbo Cadillac CTS coming

2020 Cadillac CT5 revealed, will replace the CTS

Between the end of most of Cadillac's sedan offerings and the launch of the underwhelming XT6 crossover, things were looking dreary at the American luxury brand. But now we get an exciting surprise in the reveal of the 2020 Cadillac CT5 sedan. It's a clean, and arguably conservative-looking sedan, but there are a number of things that have us intrigued. The sedan is clearly the CTS replacement, since the name falls just below the flagship CT6 sedan. Under the hood are two familiar Cadillac engines, a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 and a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6. Power numbers haven't been announced, but expect each to make similar power to the current CTS: 268 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque for the four-cylinder and 420 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque for the V6. Rear drive and all-wheel drive are available, and both engines get a 10-speed automatic transmission. The car also adopts the trim level scheme introduced by the XT4 and XT6 crossovers, which means there are just two choices, Sport and Luxury. The Sport model, pictured in gray, has a more aggressive front fascia and dark taillights, while the Luxury model, shown in burgundy, has a more demure appearance and classic red taillights. We only get a glimpse of the interior, and it shows the latest electronic gear shifter shared with Cadillac's recent crossovers, along with a physical knob for interacting with the infotainment system. Cadillac announced that the car will make its public debut at the New York Auto Show, and it will be built at the Grand River factory in Lansing, Mich. We expect to get more details and images of the car when it's revealed at the show.