GMC seems confident its new Electronic Precision Shift (EPS) gear selector is not just another confusing electronic shifter, despite introducing confusion by denoting it with the acronym EPS, which is the typical shorthand for electric power steering. But the truck brand nevertheless set aside almost three hours of time at General Motors’ Milford Proving Ground for auto journalists to have at the button-and-switch system?test it, try to trick it, ask engineers questions about it, whatever. It was perhaps also an attempt to head-off any criticism that the new shifter mechanism, GM’s second electronic shifter design, might draw once it makes its debut in the 2018 GMC Terrain, which arrives at dealerships later this summer.
The good news for GMC, at least from our perspective, is that it’s pretty easy and intuitive to use. Set up as a row of buttons and switches, it may sound, or even look, more complicated than it actually is. But can you blame anyone for being skeptical" Nontraditional shifters have come under fire lately. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ rotary shift knobs are at the center of a federal investigation, and the joystick-like, electronically controlled ?monostable? shifters supplied by ZF have been part of recalls for rollaway incidents. Rick Spina, GMC’s executive chief engineer for crossovers, noted that whereas some automakers’ newer automatic transmission electronic shifters entail just two movements?you put your fo...