Hyundai launches driverless ride service in South Korea with Ioniq 5 EV

Driverless cars have been in the news for quite some time now. Trials and operations are going on for them in many western countries. Hyundai has gone a step further in this matter and the company has started driverless cab service in South Korea. Hyundai has launched the Level 4 Autonomous RoboRide service in South Korea. That is, people will be able to travel in a car without a driver.

The service has been started in Seoul, South Korea. The company has a blog post I have also given information about it. It has been first started in Gangnam District. The first passengers to ride included the mayor of Seoul and officials from other cities. They were taken to a route that is the only location in South Korea for this service. For this service, the company is using Ioniq 5 electric car. It can seat three passengers at a time.

In the initial days of the service, it will be available only for the employees of the company. Cabs can be called through the iM app, just like Waymo and Cruise. The iM app is developed by Jin Mobility and relies heavily on artificial intelligence. The Ioniq 5 electric car is also based on Hyundai’s Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). As of now, information has not been given by the company about how long the service will continue.

The company believes that the introduction of autonomous driving is a milestone for this technology which will determine the direction of car driving in the coming times. Seoul has 25 districts, but the service has only been launched in one district. This is because traffic lights in other districts do not have the ability to communicate with the self-driving vehicle. The data collected from these rides will be used by the company for the advancement of this service in the future. That is, this technology is going to be more accurate and better in the future.