The Hyundai IONIQ as we know it so far already features Automatic Emergency Braking with Pedestrian Detection, Smart Cruise Control, Lane Departure Warning, and Rear Cross-Traffic Assist.
The new Hyundai IONIQ Autonomous concept, unveiled at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show last week, takes Hyundai innovation one step further.
With a sleek design resembling the rest of the IONIQ lineup, this vehicle is one of the few self-driving cars in development to have a hidden LiDAR system in its front bumper instead of on the roof, enabling it to look like any other car on the road and not a high school science project, the company says.
This jab at the competition aside, the new Hyundai IONIQ Autonomous concept aims to keep the self-driving systems as simple as possible. This was accomplished by using the production car’s forward-facing radar and Lane Keep Assist cameras and integrating them with LiDAR technology.
Hyundai is also developing its own autonomous vehicle operating system with the goal of using a lot less computing power. The good news is that this will result in a low-cost platform that can be installed in future Hyundai models the average consumer can afford.
Three autonomous IONIQs (and two autonomous Tucson Fuel Cell vehicles) are currently being tested at Hyundai’s R&D centre in Namyang, South Korea. To showcase their abilities, the automaker will debut two driverless IONIQs at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January where the cars will be found driving up and down the boulevards of Las Vegas. Stay tuned.
