Talk Among Yourselves: Caddy CTS Gets V2V Tech

General Motors Co. is launching a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system in the 2017 Cadillac CTS sedan that will allow the vehicle to share information with other V2V-enabled vehicles and alert them about upcoming traffic and road conditions.

The technology will be standard on all CTS cars sold in the U.S. and Canada. GM declined to say if or when the technology will be offered in other models and brands.

Connected vehicles can share information about their location, speed, direction, braking use and traffic conditions, regardless of weather, cellular coverage or line-of-sight status. Alerts will be sent to following vehicles in the event of hard braking, slippery conditions and use of hazard lights. Drivers can customize how alerts are displayed.

GM says the system can transmit and process 1,000 messages per second to and from vehicles within 1,000 ft of each other. The system operates over the 5.9-GHz short-range communications spectrum allocated for the purpose by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

For now, new CTS models with V2V would be able to talk only with each. The same is true for the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, which added a V2V system this year.

Analysts note that much higher volumes across multiple carmakers are needed for V2V to be effective. CTS sales in the U.S. fell 19% last year to less than 16,000 units, which will make it relatively rare for two V2V-enabled models to be within 1,000 ft of each other.

But usage rates could rocket soon. Last December the U.S. Dept. of Transportation issued a proposal that would require all future vehicles to have V2V communication systems by early next decade. A similar proposal is in the works for vehicle-to-infrastructure communication systems.