The Cadillac Escalade has a lot of comfort in it.
There is plenty of room for you and up to seven friends in the large SUV, which is about the size of a New York studio apartment. It needs an intercom for the driver to communicate with the 3rd row. Really.
The interior is filled with leather and screens. It glides over the pavement so that it doesn't get in the way of the other people.
If one didn't have to drive the Caddy, it would be nicer. The Escalade is also capable of that. It's sort of.
Some carmakers offer partially automated systems that can take over certain tasks, like parallel parking or keeping a car in its lane on the highway, all under the supervision of a human. One such feature is the autopilot oftesla The Super Cruise, which I tested in a 2022 Escalade that the company lent me, is one.
Is it great? It might have spoiled me for boring driving.
Drivers are invited to take their hands off of the steering wheel on approved highways and let the car do most of the work. It uses an array of cameras and sensors to slow down and speed up, navigate curves, and even change lanes to pass slower drivers.
The vehicle has cameras that watch drivers' gaze and head positioning. The system will shut off if you fall asleep or get distracted.
I assumed that Super Cruise would work, but that I would have to step in to stop it from doing dumb things. I didn't expect it to blow away my expectations.
It took me about an hour and a half to get to my friend's house after an eight hour journey. This was mostly on the surface streets around my start and end points. For hours at a time, the Escalade was cruising down the interstate, and I was less tired than I would normally be after such a long, boring drive.
It's easy to switch on Super Cruise and know when it's on. Pressing the Super Cruise button on the steering wheel is all you have to do after cruising. If the car is on a highway, a green strip on the steering wheel will light up if it's Super Cruise.
Super Cruise did well for most of the time. The Escalade was centered in its lane. When it encountered a slower car, it paused and looked for an opening. Super Cruise slowed down to accommodate the erratic driver.
It accomplished all of this in a way that was very similar to a human driver. I got the urge to change lanes more than once, but the car in front of me was too big.
There were a few issues that it hit. It aborted a lane change halfway through the maneuver and then returned to its original lane. A car in the next lane went over the dotted line and it slammed the brakes. When I drove directly into the sun, it lost sight of the road and ordered me to control it.
I was happy that I kept my fingers near the steering wheel and the brake.
Super Cruise didn't do much, but it inspired confidence.
I don't think we need to do much more to encourage people to drive long distances in SUVs. I'll be kicking myself for not stealing the Escalade when I had the chance, the next time I set off for a long drive in a less-comfy car.
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