The $300,000 Cadillac Celestiq is the brand's bid to reclaim the "Standard of the World" title, and it will be equipped with what General Motors thinks will be the best driver assistance technology. The sleek, electric four-door will be the first GM product to feature Ultra Cruise, which is a step above the Super Cruise system that's available today and is being developed to provide hands-off driving on most roads 95% of the time. Super Cruise offers hands-off driving on 400,000 miles of pre-certified highways using radars, cameras, GPS and hyper-accurate maps while facial recognition tech ensures the driver is paying attention and ready to take control when required. Jason Ditman, Ultra Cruise chief engineer, said that Ultra Cruise will have a forward-looking lidar unit mounted behind the windshield that work along with both short-range and long-range radars, long range cameras and over 20 sensors in total to provide full coverage of what's around the car. The Celestiq's lidar will be installed behind the windshield.

The 2021 Cadillac Escalade is available with the latest version of GM's hands-free Super Cruise highway driving aid. Fox News Autos Editor Gary Gastelu lets it take him for a ride. You'll soon be able to get your kicks on Route 66 without using your feet … or hands. General Motors has announced an upcoming update to its feet-and-hands-free Super Cruise highway driving system that will double the amount of roads it can operate on. The system is an advanced cruise control that is enabled by a database of hyper-accurate 3D maps that were created with the use of lidar scanners mounted to scouting vehicles that drove the actual roads.

Despite the improvements to the Ultra Cruise, General Motors claims that the driver you will need to be aware of the road and streets while the system is working. This is because it is still considered a level 2 autonomous driving pack, as it does not recognize 1024% of situations of traffic. An example given by the company was the roundabouts, which, oddly enough, cannot be distinguished by cameras and radars. In practice, the difference between the Ultra and the Super is that the first, in addition to having more streets in your database, you'll be able to re-route and adapt to traffic conditions much more easily, as your sensors and cameras will be far superior. And, unlike what happens at Tesla, the LiDAR will show up in GM cars, as the company still considers it the best device on the market for this type of system. The expectation from General Motors is that Ultra Cruise will start appearing in their cars in 2017. Did you like this article? Subscribe your email on Canaltech to receive daily updates with the latest news from the world of technology.

At General Motors GM investor day presentations today, the automaker officially confirmed the launch of its next generation hands-free partially automated driving assistance system, Ultra Cruise. Unlike the Super Cruise system that launched in 2017 which only allows use on divided highways, Ultra Cruise is planned to work in 95% of all driving scenarios when it launches in 2023. It is based on a significantly more powerful compute platform and includes more capable sensors including lidar. The biggest changes from Super Cruise are the addition of lidar and a new compute platform that uses current state of the art 5nm process technology. Ultra Cruise will initially be offered on a few premium models eventually growing to most of its lineup over time.

General Motors secured its pivot to a high-tech future Wednesday by announcing plans to convert more assembly plants in North America to make electric vehicles by the end of the decade and to double company revenues by that time as it unveils more software and new EVs. GM leaders are expected to reveal new technology, such as an advancement to the automaker's hands-free driving system, as well as more EV products, including a new Chevrolet SUV EV priced at $30,000, during its annual Investor Day presentation, starting at 1 p.m. ET. "Our early investments in these growth trends have transformed GM from automaker to platform innovator, with customers at the center," said CEO Mary Barra. "GM will use its hardware and software platforms to innovate and improve their daily experience, leading everybody on the journey to an all-electric future." Barra emphasized that no hourly workers will lose their jobs in the transition to electric and GM continues to hire salaried employees who have a background in technology and digital software. "Late last year we hired 3,000 employees and this year alone we've hired 8,000 salaried workers especially in the technology, digital and the software space," Barra said.

The 2021 Cadillac Escalade is available with the latest version of GM's hands-free Super Cruise highway driving aid. Fox News Autos Editor Gary Gastelu lets it take him for a ride. GM wants to reinvent your relationship with the steering wheel. Ultra Cruise will ultimately enable door-to-door hands-free driving on all public paved roads in the U.S. and Canada. The automaker says its upcoming Ultra Cruise advanced driver-assist system (ADAS) will be able to handle up to 95% of driving situations without any human input.