South Korean carmaker says it is ready to make autonomous cars commercially affordable



Hyundai Motor may not sound as adventurous as Elon Musk’s Tesla.

But when it comes to the issue of making self-driving cars commercially affordable, the South Korean carmaker appears to have some strong points.

Hyundai Motor demonstrated its technological developments in autonomous driving in Las Vegas last week, testing its strength in the mass market of future mobility.

Instead of using 360-degree light detection and ranging sensors -- the 3-D laser scanning methods that are expensive but central to self-driving cars -- Hyundai deployed three IBEO LIDAR sensors, making costs more affordable.

Along with mid- and long-range radars on the front and rear, and cameras in different positions, Hyundai’s self-driving prototype covered a 360-degree perspective of the road at a much cheaper expense than, for example, what Google uses in its autonomous cars. The Lidar units that the US tech giant adopts in its self-driving cars cost up to $70,000 per unit, according to news reports.

“What we are trying to show is that Hyundai is ready to mass produce self-driving cars which will be offered at affordable prices to customers, and that we have been seeking ways to develop autonomous cars that are also safe for use,” said a Hyundai official in Seoul.

Hyundai had previously said it would mass produce self-driving cars starting from 2020, without giving a specific timeline and a price range.

At the media test drive event, the South Korean carmaker invited 14 journalists for a 4-kilometer drive in Las Vegas that took place in the day and at night.

With adapting sensors and processing technologies in its Ioniq sedan, known as Hyundai’s flagship for green cars, the event took place on roads with regular traffic, without any driving conditions under control, such as traffic lights and abrupt interference by pedestrians or animals.

Through images taken by the Lidar units and a camera, an onboard computer processed the information in real-time.

High Definition Mapping, or HD map in short, provided more detailed information including road grades and curvature as well as the width of each lane.

The Ioniq Autonomous Concept car used for the test drive was unveiled at the LA Motor Show in November. Hyundai acquired a Nevada license on autonomous cars in October.

The vehicle also satisfied level 4 of on-road automated vehicle standards by the Society of Automotive Engineers. There are six standards classified from level zero to 5 by the SAE, with level 4 referring to vehicles that are capable of offering “fully automated driving,” the company said.

Hyundai’s test of its self-driving technology in Las Vegas came a few weeks before the city hosts the Consumer Electronics Show which is expected to address technological advancements in future mobility.

As part of joint efforts in commercializing autonomous cars, Hyundai has also joined a consortium of 27 carmakers, insurance, information technology and logistic companies. The international alliance launched under the recommendation of the World Economic Forum, will carry out a series of tests on self-driving cars in Boston later this month. The list of participants also includes BMW and Toyota, Nissan and Volvo.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)