Kia (000270.KS) is launching the first car-sharing service in South Korea that uses remote-driving technology.
The automaker said on the 16th that it began a remote-driving car-sharing pilot using its PV5 model in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, on the 15th, and will run the service through the end of the year.
Remote driving allows an operator at an off-site control center to drive and control a vehicle from a distance over 4G and 5G wireless networks, with no driver on board. Because it can run on existing networks and conventional vehicles, it costs far less than full autonomous driving and can support a wide range of mobility services, making it a candidate for next-generation transport solutions.
Kia is taking part in the pilot as part of a consortium with SUM, MobiOps and the Korea Road Traffic Authority. Gyeonggi Province, KT (030200.KS), UMOS One, the Advanced Institute of Convergence Technology and the Gyeonggi Province Car Rental Business Association are supporting the project as partner organizations.
The consortium is offering the service to employees of companies based in the second Pangyo Techno Valley, using the passenger version of the PV5, Kia's mid-size purpose-built vehicle (PBV).
Kia is supplying the PV5 vehicles and overseeing the project. SUM is developing the remote-driving solution, MobiOps is running the service, and the Korea Road Traffic Authority is handling regulatory review.
Users request a vehicle through a dedicated app, and remote-driving technology brings the car to a designated spot with no driver inside. The user then takes the wheel, parks at a destination of their choice and returns the vehicle. A remote operator afterward moves the car back to its depot.
To keep the service safe, the consortium built a triple-redundant communications network to guard against degraded or dropped connections, and set up a multilayered safety management system that includes training for remote operators and an emergency response framework.
The service is expected to ease the burden on companies of owning and managing corporate vehicles while improving fleet efficiency and making better use of space.
"Remote-driving technology can be applied not only to car-sharing but also to supporting travel in areas with limited transport infrastructure and to everyday convenience services," a Kia official said. "Kia plans to keep developing new mobility services by combining PBVs with remote-driving technology."