GM Hits 1 Billion Hands-Free Miles as It Takes on Tesla
When you think of hands-free semi-autonomous driving technology, Tesla may be the first automaker that comes to mind, not always for good reasons, but it's not the only one working towards true self-driving. While the likes of BMW and Mercedes are scaling back their efforts in this space, General Motors isn't, and it's getting closer every day while simultaneously working to bring AI to more drivers. This week, GM customers in nearly 750,000 Super Cruise-enabled vehicles have driven 1 billion hands-free miles, or almost 2,100 trips to the moon and back, using the advanced driver aid. The data collected during these trips will be critical in helping the automaker advance on its path towards fully autonomous technology, something it's still determined to achieve despite the challenges associated with making eyes-off self-driving safe and dependable. And GM believes it'll get there sooner than you might think.
The Data Behind Super Cruise's Widespread Use
GM intends to launch eyes-off driving with the all-electric Cadillac Escalade IQ in 2028, but the technology is intended to be available with combustion cars, too, and not only the most expensive ones like the Escalade. As with Super Cruise, which is available even on the entry-level Bolt EV, GM hopes to make self-driving in personal cars a reality, no matter how much you can afford to spend on your car. This is why the data behind today's system is so important, and there's a lot of it. GM says that over the last 12 months, customers used Super Cruise for 7.1 million hours over 28.7 million trips, logging nearly half a billion miles with Super Cruise engaged. That translates to more than a million miles every day, with the average customer spending approximately 24 minutes per trip with their hands off the wheel. But there's still plenty of room to grow.
Related: WATCH: Tesla Robotaxi Tells Passenger to Exit Car at 40 MPH
Over 50 percent of users activate Super Cruise weekly, and almost 85 percent use it at least once a month, with up to 40 percent of users renewing their subscription. While those figures show room for improvement, that improvement appears to be happening right now, with GM saying Super Cruise-equipped vehicles grew by roughly 70 percent over the last year, and users grew by about 80 percent. GM expects to exceed 850,000 users before the end of 2026, and in March, it began testing its next-generation automated tech, which will roll out to over 200 development vehicles. With safety as a priority, these vehicles will be supervised with a human test driver ready to take over.
Upgraded AI Tech from GM and Google
Along with its progress towards self-driving, GM today announced that it will be upgrading its voice assistance tech with Google Gemini, giving some 4 million vehicles AI aids through an over-the-air software update. This won't just be for new cars, with GM saying the update will be applied to models from as early as 2022. The automaker also announced "a more deeply integrated AI experience shaped by OnStar intelligence" later in 2026. We should get more details before long, but the key takeaways from GM's announcement today are that Super Cruise usage has more than doubled year-on-year, and along with better integration of AI, General Motors is showing that it can compete with tech companies like Tesla on a bigger scale than ever. This competition will help lead to advances for all automakers, hopefully with safer, more efficient roads as the ultimate byproduct. Or are flying cars the answer? Ron DeSantis thinks so.
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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 7:45 AM.