Hyundai Ioniq autonomous ride review ~ station of gear

Image 1 of 10

3 Jan, 2017 7:15pm Graham Hope

We get taken for a ride around the streets of Las Vegas by an autonomous Hyundai Ioniq

Hyundai's Ioniq has already blazed a significant trail, being engineered from the outset to accommodate hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full EV tech – the first car in the world to do so.

But now the Korean company has added another significant string to its bow, endowing it with autonomous capabilities as the self-driving revolution gathers steam.

Auto Express was given an opportunity to sample this latest version of the hi-tech pioneer – and where better to do so than on one of the most famous roads in the world, the Las Vegas Strip, and in the streets around the city’s Convention Center, where the Consumer Electronics Show techfest is an annual highlight in January?

• The ultimate guide to self-driving cars

While we weren’t actually in charge of the Ioniq – it drove itself after all – our experience gave a great insight into where Hyundai is heading. And for reassurance, there was chief autonomous engineer Ji Hyeong Han in the driver’s seat to intervene had the need arisen.

Image 2 of 10

Image 2 of 10

Externally, the autonomous model looks like any other Ioniq – there are no external obtrusions bolted on the roof or the body that are obviously monitoring surroundings.

“Autonomous” decals made clear to other road users was what this Ioniq was all about, and if you look closely at the number plate you’ll see the letters “AU”, which signify an autonomous car in Nevada. But the key tech is all cleverly hidden and integrated into the bodywork.

There are 10 sensors in total, with four cameras mounted at the top of the windscreen joined by three radar and three lidar sensors around the car.

Image 3 of 10

Image 3 of 10

The cameras’ roles are straightforward – two monitor other traffic and objects, while a third checks traffic lights to see if they are red, amber or green. The fourth looks out for pedestrians and is also a lane departure warning camera.

Behind the grille and in the bumper are a combination of radar and lidar units, which, Hyundai says, gives the Ioniq full 360-degree coverage.

Inside, again, it’s pretty much business as usual, with a couple of key differences. There’s a noticeable emergency stop button on the centre console, which does little to placate the nerves of anyone doubtful of the autonomous Ioniq’s capabilities. Thankfully, ours wasn’t required.

There’s also a new seven-inch monitor mounted on the top of the dash which feeds back info to the engineers and ‘driver’ on what the car is doing. “This is an idea of what a consumer-facing display might look like, and is intended as a trust builder,” Cason Grover, senior technical manager, vehicle technology planning, Hyundai Motor America, told us, acknowledging the reservations some potential customers have about this tech. It displays road signals ahead and possible obstacles like oncoming pedestrians.

And in the rear are two LCD screens mounted to the seat backs. The one on the left shows what the traffic light camera sees; the one on the right broadcasts what the lidar sensors detect on the road – kerbs and other objects etc.

• Hyundai Ioniq in-depth review

The most remarkable thing about travelling in such a hi-tech model as this is just how wholly unremarkable it is. Our three-mile trip around Las Vegas was incident free and uneventful.

Image 6 of 10

Image 6 of 10

Indeed, the best words to describe the Ioniq’s progress would be considered and cautious – a far cry, for example, from the aggressive taxi driver who ferried Auto Express from the city’s McCarron Airport to our hotel, cutting up other road users and generally attracting a host of negative attention. Of course, eliminating this potential for human error is a key selling point of autonomous cars.

The Ioniq’s progress was pretty serene. We were driven out of a parking lot at the city’s Westgate Hotel manually by Ji Hyeong Han before the pre-programmed route started.

It blended a mixture of 25mph and 45mph limit roads, with the Ioniq hybrid comfortably cruising at the maximum on both, accelerating smoothly and braking sensibly.

There was no need for Mr Han to intervene, and it was noticeable, for example, how the Ioniq was programmed to keep a very safe distance from cars in front at junctions. This, though, can be altered depending on who has programmed the car.

Image 8 of 10

Image 8 of 10

On two occasions the car detected it was safe to turn right at a red light, as per US road regulations, and did so with no problem. However it was turning right on another occasion that it showed its only real foible, with the steering wheel looking a little jerky and the path round the curve that it followed not the most obvious one.

On the whole, though, it was an impressive, spectacularly normal performance – if you can get your head round the fact that the steering wheel is moving on its own, as on all autonomous cars.

So how soon can we expect to see this level of autonomy on a model in the showroom?

Well, according to Ji Hyeong Han the tech is production-ready already – Hyundai needs to wait for customer demand, infrastructure and insurers to catch up. But bosses say a fully autonomous Hyundai using the kind of technology we saw is feasible by 2030.

Image 10 of 10

Image 10 of 10

There are also technical issues to resolve, too. Would, for example, a fully autonomous car be restricted to the speed limit by regulations, or would it be up to the customer to decide? More detailed mapping will have to be developed, too – and better road markings than the pretty poor ones we encountered on our Vegas test route would be desirable.

There’s also the issue of cost; full autonomy on a family oriented vehicle such as the Ioniq could add a fair amount to the price, although Hyundai won’t talk figures.

It is clear, though, that this most ambitious of brands is taking the tech extremely seriously. It’s spent three months on Las Vegas roads preparing this Ioniq – and testing a Tucson too – and our demo showed that the time has been well spent.

The company is the first manufacturer to test level four autonomy in real world conditions on public roads and it’s clear that when the move to driverless models starts in earnest, it is well placed to capitalise.

Thank you for reading the article about Hyundai Ioniq autonomous ride review in blog station of gear If this article was helpful please bookmark this page in your web browser by pressing Ctrl + D on your keyboard keys.