Hyundai Motor and Kia have begun verifying logistics environment technologies for the commercialization of Level 4 autonomous trucks. They are collaborating with domestic autonomous driving specialists to validate the safety and operational performance of autonomous driving technology on actual logistics routes.
On October 19, Hyundai Motor Group announced that it signed a business agreement with four companies, including Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis, MasAuto, and RideFlux, for the 'Level 4 Autonomous Truck Logistics Transportation Project.'
The agreement aims to deploy Level 4 autonomous large trucks on actual logistics routes owned by Hyundai Motor Group to verify vehicle control technology and the integration performance of autonomous driving systems, while also gathering data necessary for future commercialization.
The testing will involve one hydrogen electric truck and one conventional Xcient truck from Hyundai. The test routes will include approximately 100 kilometers of mixed highway and urban routes, as well as a long-distance route centered on highways measuring about 400 kilometers. The performance of vehicle control and the stability of the autonomous driving system will be confirmed in real logistics environments by the end of next year.
MasAuto and RideFlux will be responsible for developing and applying the autonomous driving systems for each vehicle. Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Glovis will support the operational testing using existing logistics routes.
Based on the results of the testing, Hyundai and Kia plan to enhance the safety redundancy technology for autonomous large trucks. Safety redundancy is a technology that allows auxiliary devices to take over functions if part of the vehicle system fails, which is essential for the commercialization of autonomous driving in large trucks that often operate over long distances.
Park Sang-hyun, Vice President in charge of commercial LCM at Hyundai and Kia, stated, "Through this collaboration, we will secure the vehicle control technology and operational data needed for real logistics environments and gradually establish a technological foundation for the commercialization of Level 4 autonomous large trucks."
Meanwhile, Hyundai and Kia signed a business agreement with the Seoul Metropolitan Government on October 1 for the commercialization of Level 4 autonomous city buses. This initiative aims to develop specialized autonomous vehicles and a control platform, while verifying the technology for application in actual city bus operations.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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