The choice for many electric vehicle buyers in 2025 will be among competitive autonomous driving technologies. Choose carefully. Very careful.
Background: these days I test a lot of electric vehicle Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS. In the past six months I’ve tested: Tesla Autopilot and Tesla Full Self Driving, General Motors Super Cruise (on various GM EVs including the Chevy Bolt EUV Premier, Blazer EV and Cadillac Lyriq), Honda Hands Free Cruise, Ford BlueCruise, Rivian Highway Assist, and Subaru’s Eyesight (on the Subaru Solterra EV).
If I were to suggest one single thing all EV buyers should do in 2025, it’s this: find out if the car you’re eying is offered with an ADAS. Then do a lot of research. Most legacy car dealers are not up front about (0r may not even know if) the EV they’re selling has an ADAS. And I would strongly suggest not skimping on an ADAS. If you dismiss it as a gimmick, you’ll eventually regret not having it. It makes a huge difference in the driving experience and makes you a better driver, to boot. Within five years, it will be as common as — and as necessary as — cruise control.
Tesla’s Full Self Driving, or FSD, is the clear leader. But that doesn’t mean I would recommend it. I did extensive testing of version 12 (have not tested version 13 yet, which I understand offers substantial improvements over v12). It was both mind blowingly impressive and scary at the same time. FSD will essentially drive the car anywhere (including right into your garage). There is no highway-only restriction, which is found on most competing ADAS. So Tesla FSD will negotiate complex local driving scenarios that competing ADAS won’t touch. Why won’t the competition do something similar to FSD? Because it’s really hard and it is fraught with unpredictability. Other EV manufacturers don’t want that kind of liability hanging over them like the sword of Damocles.
Bottom line: FSD is a religion for many Tesla owners who swear by it. My experience has been a little different. While FSD never ceases to amaze me, in certain scenarios it exhibits bizarre — and dangerous — behavior. (I live in Los Angeles.) On the upside, I would say if you’re someone constantly looking at your smartphone, FSD will offer a much safer driving experience. FSD makes mistakes (just like people do) but it doesn’t get distracted. It’s $99/month for a subscription. (Note that Tesla Autopilot is more basic and similar to competing ADAS technologies so I’m not covering it here. But it’s also one of the most affordable ADAS because it comes standard on all Teslas.)
I would put Super Cruise in the No.2 position among ADAS offered in the U.S. It’s not only fairly stable and truly hands free but is being adopted on an increasing number of EVs, including: Honda Hands Free Cruise offered on the Acura ZDX Type S, Cadillac Lyriq, Cadillac Optiq (standard), Cadillac Escalade IQ EV, Chevy Blazer EV, and Chevy Equinox EV.
I would recommend Super Cruise because it offers the right balance between comfort and safety. You already know where Super Cruise will work and where it won’t. Taking a long (or not-so-long) vacation on an interstate? Super Cruise will take the monotony of driving long distances allowing you to free yourself up and get there with much less stress. However, on local roads, you drive (which is fine by me because I prefer to negotiate local roads). However, the same old warning applies. . Super Cruise (like any ADAS) can behave unpredictably. So you can relax most of the time, but you want to stay alert.
Bottom line: GM’s Super Cruise (Gen 2) is reliable and predictable. It takes care of the maximum tedious road driving and leaves the local driving to you. (Check out this video of Honda Hands Free Cruise, also known as GM Super Cruise Gen 2, tested on an Acura ZDX Type S. )
To be honest, Ford BlueCruise is not that different from GM’s Super Cruise (as spelled out above). So I’m not going to go into a lot of gratuitous detail about Blue Cruise. There is one crucial difference, however. Let me explain. I tested Blue Cruise 1.3 on a Ford Mustang Mach-E GT. And while its highway driving was impressive and very similar to GM’s Super Cruise gen 2, local driving was different. The Mustang Mach-E GT also has a lane-centering technology for minor two-lane highways and even some local thoroughfares. Call it a secondary ADAS that complements the main highway-based ADAS. Lane centering is a more primitive kind of ADAS and relies solely on reading the center line and shoulder line. Sometimes it works very well, sometimes it doesn’t (for example, if there are no clear center and shoulder lines). But I would call it a bonus. If your daily commute requires driving a long, minor two-lane highway, the lane centering technology can be a bonus and works where other satellite-based ADAS don’t.
Bottom line: Ford BlueCruise is similar to GM’s Super Cruise with a bonus: a secondary ADAS for minor highways.
Rivian has a smart ADAS called Highway Assist that works much like GM and Ford. I have thoroughly tested Rivian’s Rivian address. And I would present it, with the same caveats as always. No ADAS is perfect, and you deserve to be prepared to deal with scenarios where ADAS behaves unpredictably or suddenly. The Subaru Solterra (a rebadged Toyota BZ4X) has a decent hundred-way generation (as explained in the discussion of Ford Bluecruise above) called the EyeSight. Based on the deals Subaru is offering, its View might be the most affordable ADAS you can get in the United States today.
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