Motional, the joint venture for autonomous driving between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, released a new video examining the Level 4 autonomous driving technology and safety features of its robotaxis.
The robotaxis, which will use Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 vehicles, are set to launch in late 2023 in Las Vegas. The companies said that because Las Vegas is home to 42.5 million visitors annually many use taxis and ride-hailing services to get around the town.
The robotaxis will add to the availability of ride-hailing services in the city with a focus on safety with more than 30 sensors including cameras, radars and lidar as well as an onboard computing system to navigate the streets.
This is especially difficult in a city such as Las Vegas because it is filled with oddly shaped and parked vehicles and obstacles such as stretch limos, billboard trucks, pedestrians everywhere, double parked cars and multiple vehicles unloading and loading at all times of the day and night.
In the video, the robotaxis are shown visiting tourist locations and different scenarios for both testing and data collection.
Once the Las Vegas robotaxis are in service, Motional will also be launching services in Los Angeles and eventually will be starting services in other cities both in the U.S. and globally.
The autonomous vehicles are already learning the streets of Boston and to navigate the street-level light rail service and protected bicycle lanes of San Diego. Additionally, the robotaxis are leaning to manage left-side traffic in Singapore.
As part of the Las Vegas service, Motional has signed an agreement with Uber to be included on the Uber network. Lyft is already working with Motonal in Las Vegas for robotaxis in their fleet.