- Super Cruise is General Motors's answer to Tesla's Autopilot: an advanced driver-assistance feature.
- The first three-year trials of Super Cruise expire soon and GM will begin charging customers a subscription fee to keep it activated, reports Motor Trend.
- It's not clear how much the subscription will cost.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Super Cruise — General Motors's answer to Tesla's Autopilot — launched in late 2017 on the 2018 Cadillac CT6 sedan. It's an advanced driver-assistance system and arguably one of the best things GM currently offers. But now that the first wave of Super Cruise free trials are about to expire, the automaker wants customers to pay a subscription fee to keep it activated, first reported by Motor Trend and confirmed by Cadillac.
Super Cruise is currently offered on a basis of a three-year trial, Motor Trend's Greg Fink writes. After the trial expires, customers will have to pay a subscription fee to keep it turned on. Business Insider asked Cadillac how much customers can expect to pay for the technology after the free trial runs out, but a company spokesperson was "unable to share this information."
The spokesperson did say that the cars' adaptive cruise control and lane-centering abilities will continue working whether or not there's a subscription to Super Cruise, however.
Super Cruise started out as only being offered exclusively with the CT6 — which was discontinued earlier this year — but Cadillac said in January that the technology will also be offered on the 2021 CT4, 2021 CT5, and 2021 Escalade. It's unclear why it took so many years for Super Cruise to be offered on other models.
Unlike Tesla's Autopilot, Super Cruise uses a camera to watch the driver's eyes to make sure they are paying attention to the road. Drivers are able to take their hands off the steering wheel while it is active. Business Insider has reviewedboth and can conclude that the two systems are some of the best driver-assistance systems currently available to consumers.
It's also worth mentioning (again) that such systems are not fully self-driving or autonomous and should not be treated as such.
The move to charge users a subscription fee to continue using a feature their car already comes with seems to be part of a larger trend. Business Insider reported in July that BMW is making similar moves, envisioning a future where its cars come with all the hardware for features such as heated seats, but the owners pay a subscription fee to activate them.
Once the Super Cruise trial period ends, it appears that customers will have to pay to renew the service, despite having already paid for the extra hardware that the technology needs in order to work.
Jalopnik reported in 2017 that Super Cruise was a $5,000 add-on to the CT6's Premium Luxury Trim. CarsDirect reported in May that Super Cruise will start at $2,500 on the new Escalade.
"Super Cruise requires a vehicle connectivity plan in order to operate, and that plan is offered free for three years based on the date of purchase on current products," a Cadillac spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider. "Messaging is going out to customers shortly with information on their renewal options, and after that messaging goes out, we will be able to share additional information on plan costs."
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