Car manufacturer Hyundai Motor has just recently received a license from the transport of ministry for testing their very own autonomous-driving car on local roads. This was made to facilitate the company’s plans to commercialize vehicles that can drive on their own by the year 2020.
Hyundai Motor Plans to Bring Driverless Cars to the Public by 2020
Hyundai Motor is Korea’s largest automobile maker and they plan to test a self-driving Genesis premium sedan on local roads. The permit was approved from the ministry of land, infrastructure, and transport. The Genesis will be equipped with the latest sensors, and testing it on South Korea’s local roads will begin as early as April.
Therefore, if you’re in the locale by next month and you see a car passing by without anyone sitting on the driver seat, don’t get shocked and scared. It was just probably the Hyundai Genesis being tested out by the company. The firm stated that it will mobilize more resources in order to develop driver-less cars before their rivals reach similar goals. In doing so, they can capitalize the idea better into an emerging automobile category.
A spokesman from the company states that, “We have tested our self-driving vehicles several times before in controlled environments with no other cars on the road. With this new license, we will be able to test the vehicles in real traffic conditions on designated sections of expressways and regular roads. We will make every effort to become a global leader in this highly-promising segment.”
Last Monday, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a ceremony at the Sejong Government Complex to issue the nation’s very first license to make use of the autonomous vehicle. On the event, both the license and license plate were given out to the automaker’s representative. Furthermore, both of these items are valid for use within the next five years.
It was approximately a month ago that the car manufacturer filed for the application to test out their autonomous car in South Korea’s local roads. They have asked the ministry to grant them the license for their Genesis premium sedan, along with legitimate licenses for two drivers who will be the ones to be inside the car at all times while it is on the road.
As part of the application’s approval, the Genesis sedan from Hyundai Motor must carry a visible sign so that other drivers will be aware of the ongoing test. Furthermore, the driver-less car can only run on two sections of expressways along with four sections of regular roads. Both sections span a combined 320-kilometers to test the vehicle.