Hyundai Mobis Plans Major Self-Driving Test in South Korea

One of the world’s foremost auto parts suppliers has announced a major new test of its fully autonomous driving technology in South Korea.

Hyundai Mobis, an affiliate of the Hyundai Motor Group, said it would be conducting test rides in Incheon, a city of 3 million people that borders the capital Seoul.

The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Incheon Free Economic Zone and Incheon Technopark to run a test vehicle delivering Level 4 automation, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

The autonomous vehicle (AV), based on a Hyundai Ioniq 5, will operate in an area spanning 37.3 miles in the Songdo and Yeongjongdo parts of the city over the first half of 2025. It is being developed with 20 other partners, including research institutes, universities and start-ups.

According to Hyundai Mobis, it features a high-performance processor rather than the microcontrollers found in other AVs. A focus on cutting weight has reduced the number of parts and there are several redundancy systems.

What makes this program particularly valuable for Hyundai Mobis is that the operational design domain consists of mainly urban roads rather than highways.

Urban environments are more complex for AVs to navigate due to the increased traffic, and the requirement to recognize street furniture such as signs and traffic lights.

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As well as providing a complex test of the company’s autonomous driving software, the program will generate useful data as Hyundai Mobis aims to build momentum toward commercialization and mass production of its technology.

The company has showcased several innovations over the past couple of years as it develops a portfolio of automated tech.

Its Mobis Parking Solution, for example, features a Memory Parking Assist feature, which is essentially a route learning mode that allows a parking maneuver to be memorized and executed automatically in the future, via an onboard touchscreen. 

It has also revealed the “crab-walking” Mobion, a concept car based on Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 that features the e-Corner system, in which all four wheels are controlled individually. This enables movement in tight spaces that conventional cars would not be capable of – such as diagonal driving and sideways motion – and offers obvious potential for deployment in AVs.

Having been unveiled at CES in January, the Mobion is set to be presented again at the 37th World Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition (EVS37) in Seoul later this month.

The wider Hyundai Motor Group is also making great strides with its autonomous tech, having recently highlighted how its self-driving Ioniq 5 would earn a driver’s license in Nevada. Last year the company confirmed its intent to manufacture production versions, in tandem with Motional, at a facility in Singapore.

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