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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

2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV First Drive Review: Still impressive, even out of its element

SAN FRANCISCO – Our first experience with the GMC Hummer EV in any form was spent in an environment clearly ideal for such a vehicle. That first drive of the production-ready truck was in Arizona, a place with large, open freeways and rocky, desert terrain. Notably, they were areas that could showcase the Hummer's strengths: enormous power and acceleration, a lack of trees or narrow lanes to hinder its size, and sufficiently rocky terrain to demonstrate its remarkable off-road abilities. So it was particularly strange that the media's first experience with the Hummer EV SUV would involve the tight streets and twisty mountain passes of San Francisco and Napa Valley, locations that certainly would seem to put the Hummer on the back tire. In some ways they certainly did, but at the same time, they revealed the Hummer is surprisingly capable out of its element, and maybe even a good fit for the area. The start of our driving time involved leaving downtown San Francisco and heading up Highway 29 to Napa where GM had set up a number of demonstrations like those at the truck first drive, and where our winery hotel was. In the birthplace of Tesla, where Models of all letters and number are ubiquitous, the monster black Hummer definitely stood out. And not just for its sheer size: it is the technological flagship of General Motors, perhaps the most traditional of American car manufacturers. On the other hand, the locale also felt appropriate given that flagship status, from its flashy instrument and infotainment displays, to its acrobatic suspension and steering systems. This is as good a time as any to go over what makes the Hummer EV SUV different from the truck. Obviously it has a solid roof over a cargo area instead of an open bed. It's also the smaller of the two giants: total length is 20 inches shorter (excluding the spare tire) and the wheelbase is 8 inches shorter. That pays a few dividends in maneuverability both on and off road. The turning circle of the SUV is 1.7 feet smaller, at 35.4 feet, which is almost 3 feet tighter than that of the Chevy Bolt EUV. The breakover angle is also improved by 10.6 degrees (49 at max ride height) and the departure angled by 2.2 degrees (34.4 at max ride height). Though the bed is gone, the interior cargo space is certainly spacious, with maximum capacity of 81.8 cubic feet with the rear seats folded perfectly flat into the admittedly high load floor.

What the electric Hummer's size and weight means for its efficiency

The 2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1. Tim Levin/Insider If you think driving a pint-sized Nissan Leaf is as good for the planet as driving a huge electric Hummer, think again.  The GMC Hummer EV uses significantly more electricity than other EVs, meaning it produces more pollution upstream.  The electric Hummer weighs 9,000 pounds and its battery weighs as much as a Honda Civic. The new electric Hummer rolls through town without a deafening engine rumble or a cloud of toxic fumes, but it doesn't exactly tread lightly.  The colossal truck weighs an astonishing 9,000 pounds. (Think two Toyota Tacomas, three Honda Civics, or 24 Shaquille O'Neals.) Moreover, the GMC Hummer EV is in many ways a supersized gas guzzler for a new era. It repackages many of the same flaws of hulking SUVs and trucks of years past — and proves not all zero-emission cars are created equal. EVs can be energy guzzlers too On the whole, electric cars use less energy than gas-powered ones. But they aren't all equally efficient.  No surprise here: The Hummer needs more electricity than any other EV on the market to move its elephantine frame. The Environmental Protection Agency rates the pickup at 47 MPGe (miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent). For comparison, the Tesla Model 3 sedan is nearly three times as efficient, earning a rating of 132 MPGe. The Ford F-150 Lightning, another electric truck, gets 70 MPGe.  This has real consequences: Since the US gets 61% of its energy from oil, coal, and natural gas, the more electricity a car needs, the more pollution it creates upstream.  As the Union of Concerned Scientists put it: "Both EV cars and trucks are much cleaner than their gasoline counterparts, but electric trucks are responsible for more global warming emissions than electric cars simply because trucks are larger and heavier."  The 2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1. Tim Levin/Insider The Hummer EV is also resource-intensive to manufacture, requiring a ginormous (and weighty) battery to give people the 300-plus miles of range they desire. You could produce three Chevrolet Bolts with the same battery cells consumed by one Hummer.