Making driverless vehicles safe, reliable and accessible are core challenges to this nascent segment of the automotive industry. Vehicle manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group in a joint venture with innovative technology firm Aptiv PLC called “Motional” seeks to address those challenges. Formed this past March Motional is developing and commercializing autonomous vehicles and expects to test fully driverless systems in 2020 and in 2022 make available its driverless systems and supporting technology for robotaxi providers and fleet operators.
“Motional, in all of its previous forms, has been leading driverless technology for decades. Our DNA – a combination of Aptiv’s expertise in advanced technology and Hyundai’s leadership in both vehicle manufacturing and R&D – is uniquely powerful, and positions us to fundamentally change how people move through their lives,” said Karl Iagnemma, President and CEO, Motional.
The venture’s name, Motional, is the connection of two words: motion and emotional. The latter refers to automobile movement that encompasses the company’s technology and decades of experience, while ‘emotional’ is intended to evoke the company’s people-first approach through its focus on safety and reliability that is of utmost importance to drivers.
“Motional is a strong name that will signify to consumers they are riding in a driverless vehicle that is safe for passengers, cities, and the environment,” said Kevin Clark, President and CEO, Aptiv.
Based in Boston and with teams in Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Santa Monica, Singapore, and Seoul, Motional has great pedigree. Their leadership team is comprised of driverless technology pioneers who participated in the historic DARPA Grand Challenge, and founded nuTonomy and Ottomatika, early leaders in the space. The team has been driving the industry forward, being in the first fully-autonomous cross-country drive in the U.S., the launch of the world’s first robotaxi pilot (Singapore; 2016), and then operating the world’s most-established public robotaxi fleet in Las Vegas in 2018 and active to this day. That fleet has achieved over 100,000 rides, with 98% of riders rating their experience five-out-of-five stars.
Euisun Chung, Executive Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group said, “Motional represents the next frontier of innovation as the company pioneers a new era of safe, accessible and green transportation. We have a long history of being on the cutting edge of automotive technology and look forward to continuing that legacy with Motional.”
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