Hyundai to begin testing autonomous driving tech in 2022

Hyundai has announced it will begin trialling Level Four autonomous vehicles from 2022 in the South Korean capital of Seoul.

According to The Korean Car Blog, Hyundai said it would begin testing its ‘robotaxi’ fleet, based on the fully-electric Ioniq 5.

Hyundai unveiled the Ioniq 5 robotaxi in September, with plans to run the vehicles on the roads around Los Angeles.

Under the internationally-recognised Society of Automotive Engineers’ guidelines, Level Four autonomy means the vehicle will drive itself within limited environments, and won’t require passengers to take over.

It’s the second-highest level in the hierarchy, with Level Three autonomous driving software most commonly seen on Tesla vehicles – the vehicle can drive itself under limited conditions, such as in a traffic jam, but the driver must take over when the vehicle requests it.

4

Many cars currently on sale have Level Three driving functions offered as standard, allowing the vehicle to provide a degree of steering, braking and acceleration to support the driver, such as radar cruiser control and lane-keep assist.

“We’re developing a fully-autonomous technology that won’t require the driver’s intervention, based on the self-driving [system] that has been verified and applied to existing models,” Jang Woong-jun, head of Hyundai’s autonomous driving division, said at the 2021 Seoul Mobility Show this week.

Jang also announced the Korean car giant was planning to introduce an autonomous “robo-delivery service,” which could improve the efficiency of logistics.