Do you know what it means to innovate and, more specifically, why the word should play a prominent role in your search for the perfect vehicle? To innovate means to introduce new ideas, methods, and products. What does this have to do with visiting your local GMC dealer to find your next car, truck, or SUV? Absolutely everything.
General Motors, GMC’s parent company, has been a pioneer in the American automotive industry since the 1900s. During this time, the legendary automaker positioned itself as an innovative leader with an acute awareness of its customers and their needs. We see this today in advancements throughout the GMC lineup that range from GM’s Ultium EV platform and hands-free Super Cruise technology to its industry-leading MultiPro Tailgate. These innovations make shopping for a GMC an easy and confident decision.
EV Innovation: Meet Ultium
If you’re looking to the future, there’s no better choice than GMC. In 2020, GM outlined its plans for an all-electric future and immediately set out to lead the industry with its revolutionary Ultium platform. The platform resolves many EV-related complaints like limitations due to battery design and high costs that, for years, steered customers away from adopting an all-electric lifestyle. Models like GMC’s Hummer EV and Hummer EV SUV are slated to change that entirely.
Moving to an all-electric future is expensive for both automakers and drivers, but GM remedies that with the Ultium platform’s pouch-style design. The pouches can be stacked horizontally or vertically within the battery pack, making the platform more flexible and versatile across GM’s many brands, from GMC and Chevrolet to Buick and Cadillac. This versatility means GM has to spend less reinventing the wheel to design a battery for every specific vehicle, which cuts production costs and, in turn, makes EVs more affordable for customers.
The Ultium’s pouch-style design also means more options for customers. For example, the upcoming Hummer EV will offer multiple configurations with power ranging anywhere from 150 kWh to 200 kWh depending on trim. This makes the Ultium platform more than capable of delivering the power you need right when you need it, whether you’re behind the wheel of the GMC Hummer EV, which promises up to 1,000 horsepower and 11,500 lb-ft of near-instant torque, or the upcoming GMC Sierra EV.
Driving Innovation: Meet Super Cruise
Have you heard of Super Cruise? If you’re a fan of the GMC brand, then you likely know that Super Cruise is the industry’s first true hands-free driver-assistance technology. Like GM’s Ultium Platform, Super Cruise will impact how we get from Point A to Point B. It will usher us into a future that allows us to take our hands off the wheel, reducing driver fatigue and stress in the driver’s seat. So, how does it work?
Available on the 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali and Denali Ultimate, along with the upcoming GMC Hummer EV and Hummer EV SUV, Super Cruise keeps the driver in the loop for maximum safety. This is achieved by a driver attention system that uses an IR camera mounted in the steering column to monitor your gaze and head position. As long as you keep your eyes on the road and that road is compatible with the system, Super Cruise allows you to take your hands off the wheel.
Compatible with over 200,000 miles of roadways throughout the United States and Canada, Super Cruise relies on GMC Connected Services, GPS data, real-time cameras, sensors, and LiDAR map data to determine the truck’s location, read the road, and monitor your attentiveness. If the conditions are right, Super Cruise uses Adaptive Cruise Control to expertly control the GMC’s acceleration and braking so that you can take your hands off the wheel. It also works with Lane Change on Demand and Automatic Lane Change, both of which let the GMC change lanes without you having to put your hands on the wheel.
Super Cruise might sound too good to be true, but GMC has ensured that the feature not only improves your experience behind the wheel but also ensures your safety. For example, Super Cruise relies on multiple forms of communication to get your attention when your gaze is no longer on the road. The first alert comes from a light bar in the steering wheel that flashes green to get your attention. The second alert flashes a red light, adds an audible beep, and vibrates the Safety Alert Seat if your GMC is equipped with the feature. The third alert adds a voice prompt. If you fail to respond after multiple attempts to get your attention, Super Cruise will safely slow the vehicle, bring it to a controlled stop, and contact an Emergency-Certified OnStar Advisor.
Hauling Innovation: Meet the MultiPro Tailgate
GMC believes that workhorses like the Sierra should make your job easier by offering versatility and functionality. Nothing shows this better than GMC’s MultiPro Tailgate. It’s the world’s first multifunction tailgate and GM’s best-kept secret for over a decade!
The MultiPro tailgate was born out of necessity in 2009 when a GM Manager asked a technician to fix a problem he had with his truck–items in the bed kept moving around, making it hard for him to access his cargo. The MultiPro tailgate solved the problem, but bad timing and financial struggles forced GM to shelve the idea until a later date. This was a huge risk since GM didn’t know if another automaker had already designed something similar. Fortunately, time was on GM’s side, and the MultiPro tailgate made its official debut on the 2019 Sierra 1500.
Today, the MultiPro Tailgate embodies GMC’s “work smarter, not harder” mentality. The tailgate offers six unique functions that make it easier to access the bed and load or unload cargo. Its primary gate functions as a conventional tailgate but adds convenience with three options to open it automatically: a button on the instrument panel, a button on the key fob, or a button on the tailgate itself. The primary gate’s load stop keeps longer items from sliding out of the bed, which solves the problem that inspired the tailgate’s design in 2009.
The inner gate gives you easier access to the bed and, like the primary gate, features a load stop. Accessing your cargo from this position is more convenient with the available full-width step that can support up to 375 pounds. You’ll also find the inner gate offers a flat work surface that’s a great place for supporting your laptop, reading blueprints, or holding other items. Add in the available Kicker MultiPro Sound System that transforms the tailgate into an entertainment venue, and it’s easy to see why the GMC Sierra is one of the best-selling and most functional trucks in America.
Where Will GMC Take You?
Who wouldn’t want to put their trust in an automaker that leads the industry in innovation? Offering new ideas and products, GMC continues to revolutionize how we live, work, and travel. While the Ultium platform ushers the industry into a greener future with zero emissions, GMC satisfies current needs with products like Super Cruise and the MultiPro Tailgate, both of which promise to make your time behind the wheel safer, more convenient, and more enjoyable than ever before. That’s reason enough to venture to your local GMC dealer to discover where GMC will take you next.
