GM Sees Benchmarking Tesla Model S Plaid and Summon Features

GM has been seen benchmarking the Tesla Model S Plaid and Model 3. The latter appears to test Tesla’s summon feature.

Tesla has long been a leader in electric vehicles, making its vehicles popular to benchmark other automakers as they develop their own EV programs. Benchmarking involves acquiring a Tesla vehicle and either dismantling it to observe and learn from its subsystem or to test it on the road to benchmark performance.

Porsche was often seen benchmarking Tesla vehicles. Mercedes-Benz benchmarked and destroyed a Tesla Model X in the weirdest of ways before launching its electric SUV.

Tesla vehicles have made their way to Michigan to be tested by what was known as the “Big 3” or “Big 3”. In 2016, Ford paid a $55,000 premium to buy one of the first Tesla Model Xs and benchmark it. GM isn’t seen as much as benchmarking Tesla vehicles, but it’s certainly engaged in a similar strategy.

Back in 2019, Steve Carlisle, who was then head of the Cadillac brand and now in charge of the North American market for GM, said the company was ‘obsessively’ benchmarking Tesla.

In just a few days now, GM has been seen through GM Authority benchmarking both the Tesla Model S Plaid and Model 3. Both Tesla vehicles were spotted near GM testing facilities in Michigan.

In the case of the Model 3, GM Authority reports that it was spotted testing the Smart Summon feature:

These photos were taken near a GM test facility. The Tesla Model 3 sedan is finished in white and features a GM vehicle inventory barcode on the rear bumper, as well as Michigan manufacturer license plates. Seriously, there was no driver in the Tesla sedan when these photos were taken. Actually, the sedan itself was being driven by someone else nearby.

GM has a supercruise suite of advanced driver-assistance features, and it might be looking to pair it with a few features similar to what you might find in Tesla’s full self-driving package, like the Smart Summon.

With the Cadillac Lyric in the coming months, GM is looking to rapidly expand its EV lineup in the years to come.

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