Hyundai Motor Company and Aurora have announced their plan to deliver autonomous Hyundai vehicles to the market by 2021.
Aurora, a leader in autonomous vehicle technology, will provide self-driving technology for Hyundai cars beginning with custom-developed vehicles with a long-term goal of commercialising self-driving vehicles worldwide.
Level 4 autonomous vehicles, as defined by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers), can operate without human input or oversight under select conditions. The partnership will initially focus on the ongoing development of the hardware and software needed for automated and autonomous driving for Level 4 automation of the vehicles, as well as the back-end data services required.
Dr. Woong Chul Yang, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor, said, “Combining our advanced vehicle technology that embeds the latest safety features with Aurora’s leading suite of Level 4 autonomous technology will advance this revolution in mobility with Hyundai in a leadership position.”
Dr. Chris Urmson, CEO of Aurora, added, "This partnership combines Hyundai’s strengths in vehicle design, safety and manufacturing with Aurora’s expertise in self-driving technologies to make a positive difference in the world.”
Hyundai’s partnership with Aurora is a step towards the company’s goal of achieving fully autonomous driving. Last year at 2017 CES Hyundai demonstrated self-driving technology in urban environments with its autonomous IONIQ models.
Hyundai’s latest generation fuel-cell vehicle is set to make its debut at CES 2018 and become the first model to be utilised in the test processes starting this year. The fuel-cell powertrain will be ideal for implementing the autonomous driving technologies due to the massive amount of power available to support the masses of data communication and operation of hardware including sensors.
Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles will be able to provide the required electric power without the impact on driving range.
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