Hyundai Motor Corporation will pilot a future carpooling service in Seoul’s popular Gangnam district, using two Ioniq 5s with “in-house developed level 4 autonomous driving technology” and redundant safety drivers.
The pilot ‘RoboRide’ is billed as the first ride-hailing service with self-driving cars operating in the county – one of the most congested on the planet. Hyundai claims it has been collecting data from autonomous test vehicles in the area since 2019.
The automaker will work with a Korean artificial intelligence-powered ride-hailing startup called Jin Mobility and wants to expand the pilot Ioniq 5 fleet of vehicles in time.
Hyundai hopes pilots will generate more “valuable autonomous driving data” to help it hone its driverless technology for extremely complex mega-urban environments.
The company has obtained a temporary autonomous driving license from the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It has also worked with the Seoul Metropolitan Government on a system that could connect traffic signals to vehicles (called V2I, or vehicle-to-infrastructure).
Hyundai added that it will provide an in-house remote vehicle assistance system to better protect occupants. The system monitors the autonomous driving status, vehicle and route, and assists the trip with remote assistance functions such as lane change “in cases where autonomous driving is not possible”.
“Based on Level 4 autonomous driving technology, the RoboRide vehicle will perceive, make decisions and control its own driving behavior, while its safety driver will only intervene under extreme conditions. limited,” Hyundai added.
The RoboRide test service will operate from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, outside of traditional peak hours. Up to three passengers can be on a ride.
Hyundai said it plans to operate a demonstration service initially for selected employees internally, then expand the trial service to general customers “in the future”. Korean Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong; and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, were the first customers to test drive the RoboRide.
“At Hyundai Motor Corporation, we are developing Level 4 autonomous driving technology based on an in-house developed Advanced Driver Assistance System, whose functionality and safety have been verified through our products. mass production and successful commercial launch,” said Jang Woongjun, director of Hyundai Motor Group’s Autonomous Driving Center.
“We expect this RoboRide test service to be an important inflection point where we can internalize autonomous driving technology.”
