Hyundai and Motional unveil fully autonomous Ioniq 5 robotaxi

Hyundai Motor Group and Motional have revealed the Ioniq 5 robotaxi; a fully electric driverless commercial vehicle.

Motional is a driverless technology firm and the company has worked with Hyundai motor Group to transform its fully electric Ioniq 5 SUV into a fully driverless public ride-hail car which will begin service in 2023 through a partnership with Lyft.

The Ioniq 5 robotaxi is an SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicle that can safely operate without a driver. The car is fitted with more than 30 sensors – a combination of cameras, radars, and lidar – that provide robust 360-degree perception, high-resolution images, and ultra-long-range detection of objects.

Motional’s driverless technology, which includes advanced machine learning systems and is based on real-world data, will also allow the vehicle to navigate complex and challenging driving environments.

Motional president and CEO, Karl Iagnemma, said: “This robotaxi represents Motional’s vision of a driverless future becoming a reality. Through our strategic partnership with Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, we have unparalleled automotive and software expertise across our entire vehicle development process. This deep collaboration enables us to manufacture a robotaxi that’s both highly safe and reliable and is cost-optimized for global production. We’re focused on mass commercialization, and the Ioniq 5 robotaxi is built for that purpose.”

Woongjun Jang, head of the Autonomous Driving Center at Hyundai Motor Group, added: “Hyundai Motor has evolved its Ioniq 5, a battery-electric vehicle built on its EV-dedicated platform, into a platform for fully autonomous vehicles.

“For the Ioniq 5-based robotaxi, we have applied various redundancy systems, in addition to a suite of essential technologies to ensure safety and convenience of the passengers. By successfully integrating the Group’s Ioniq 5 robotaxi with Motional’s autonomous driving technology, we are proud to announce that we have achieved another important milestone on the road to the commercialization of our robotaxi.”