‘Shared economy, last-mile mobility, AI, self-driving….’ Hyundai Motor Group has been studying smart mobility services, paying continued attention to those trending words that are reshaping the automotive industry. Examples include Korea’s first ride-pooling service ‘Shucle,’ and real-time demand response mobility service ‘I-MOD.’ In addition to introducing new mobility services to the public that would enhance customer convenience, Hyundai Motor Group also signed partnerships with companies such as Grab, Ola, and Revv, laying the milestone for entering the global sharing economy.
Hyundai Motor Group is not only exploring individual mobility services but also connecting them to give people a new ‘journey of movement’. Until now, you have to choose between either a private mode of transportation or public transportations. In the future, however, you will be provided with a ‘total solution’ that efficiently combines different forms of transportation; for example, you can use car-hailing or demand-response mobility services for medium- and longer-distance trips, and then use last-mile mobility, such as electric scooters or electric bicycles, for short distances to your final destination. Each mobility is available through a transit hub or a dedicated platform and is connected to the road and social infrastructure to provide a customized route quickly.
Hyundai Motor Group is striving to make life more convenient and prosperous, utilizing true freedom of movement in an era where all means of transportation are closely connected through smart mobility services.
MOCEAN
In order to achieve our future strategy as a Smart Mobility Solution Provider, we established MOCEAN, a company specializing in mobility service operations, and are developing domestic mobility service business. Our mobility strategy is to play a role as a mobility service enabler that provides comprehensive services to mobility operators. We aim to develop a new business/service based on vehicle data and to build a wholistic mobility service ecosystem.
To this end, we established MOCEAN, a specialized operating corporation to provide mobility solutions to mobility operators in October 2019. For the first time, ‘ MOCEAN Smart Solution’ business was launched for small and medium-sized rental companies in May 20th, enabling integrated management in terms of vehicle control, vehicle management, and business management.
In the future, we plan to pursue business alliance cooperation with car-sharing companies and large rental companies, and also plan to expand product/service areas such as additional services and taxi integrated terminal business. Under this roadmap, MOCEAN will play an important role as a mobility service operating company.
MOCEAN Lab
The very same year Hyundai Motor Group founded ‘MOCEAN’, Hyundai Motor Group simultaneously established ‘MOCEAN Lab’ in Los Angeles, California. The LA-based company’s first service, ‘MOCEAN Carshare’, is Los Angeles’ first ‘free-floating’ car-sharing service that utilizes conveniently rentable, eco-friendly vehicles. While existing car-sharing services have certain restrictions on rentals and returns, MOCEAN Lab’s partnership with the city of Los Angeles lifts these restrictions: MOCEAN Carshare vehicles are permitted to use on-street parking in Downtown Los Angeles and Eagle Rock. With further designs to expand its car-sharing service area in Los Angeles, the Group plans to introduce a variety of eco-friendly vehicles to its fleet, such as electric cars.
Hyundai Motor Group also aims to promote future innovative technologies and expand other services through MOCEAN Lab by utilizing the foundations set by MOCEAN Carshare: a loyal customer base, skilled business operations, and meticulous fleet management. The new services will include universal mobility, dynamic shuttle, and in-vehicle advertisement/commerce; one of the main targets for these services will be for the vulnerable.
Hyundai Motor Group will further develop itself as a smart mobility solution provider that solves traffic, safety, and environmental issues by collaborating with the city of Los Angeles for next-generation mobility services. These smart mobility solutions will incorporate robo-taxi, personal mobility, and Urban Air Mobility (UAM).
Hyundai Motor Group ✕ Grab: Car Hailing Project
Car Hailing is a service that calls the registered private vehicles or connects the mobile service providers and users in real-time, just like people use taxis.
Since 2018, Hyundai Motor Group has been working with Grab, Southeast Asia’s largest car-sharing service company, for a car-hailing project using electric vehicles as Kona EV. In particular, Kona EV, featuring a range longer than 400 kilometers with a single charge, is considered the best vehicle for car-hailing services from a convenience perspective. The car-hailing project is active in Singapore and India, and plans to gradually expand to other major countries.
BotRide
‘BotRide’, a ride-sharing service enabled through an open innovation initiative utilizing Hyundai Motor Group’s vehicle platform, was a robotaxi pilot conducted in California, US. Riders hailed autonomous vehicles using BotRide’s smartphone app which directed passengers to nearby stops for pick up and drop off. Through this pilot, the company has collected user data for providing a “Truly Driverless Experience”.
Robotaxi
Hyundai Motor Group has developed Robotaxi based on the Hyundai IONIQ 5, an all-electric vehicle, with Motional, a self-driving joint venture established with Aptiv.
The IONIQ 5 is an SAE Level 4 autonomous vehicle that can safely operate without a driver. It’s a zero tailpipe-emissions robotaxi and represents the convergence of the two most transformative technologies in mobility: electrification and autonomy. The fusion of these technologies can make transportation smarter, safer, and more sustainable.
The IONIQ 5 robotaxi is also Motional’s first commercial vehicle and signals a pivotal milestone in the company’s roadmap. Motional will begin transporting public passengers in the IONIQ 5 robotaxi in 2023 through a landmark partnership with Lyft.
EnableLA
EnableLA is a wheelchair-accessible vehicle (WAV) ride-hailing service demonstration project that was started in Los Angeles, California to improve the mobility of transportation-disadvantaged individuals, such as people with disabilities and the elderly. When a person who wishes to use the service requests a ride via its mobile app or phone, a professional driver trained in providing support to transportation-disadvantaged individuals drives the vehicle to pick up and safely transport the service user to his or her destination.
Hyundai Motor Group implements the project in partnership with ButterFLi, a Los Angeles-based mobility platform for transportation-disadvantaged individuals, and SMS, a fleet operator. We also plan to share with the world our mobility service guidelines for transportation-disadvantaged individuals and our project experience through the research on the EnableLA demonstration project.
Shucle
‘Shucle’ is Korea’s first on-demand ride pooling service for people who wish to go to the gym or supermarket near their home without having to drive their own car. When a user calls a vehicle from anywhere within a service area with a radius of around 2 km, a large van (modified 11-passenger SOLATI) drives along an optimal route generated in real-time in order to pick up and drop off passengers at their desired locations.
When a new call is generated, a car-sharing algorithm is used for real-time route re-calculation and vehicle allocation, so that passengers with similar routes and destinations can share a ride. Once the Shucle service is facilitated, residents in the region will enjoy greater mobility convenience, while unnecessary short-distance driving will be reduced and local communities will be revitalized. The Group also anticipates that the service will contribute to addressing parking shortages in the future.
Hyundai Motor Company conducted a RoboShuttle pilot service, which combines self-driving technology with Shucle, a mobility on demand service, in Sejong City for approximately two months from August 2021.
I-MOD (Incheon-Mobility on Demand)
I-MOD is a demand-response mobility service for citizens having a lack of bus lines, too much wait time, and not enough buses. If a user inputs the origin and destination on the app, a bus – after the user chooses one among the eight – will be deployed to a bus stop that is the nearest to the passenger using AI technologies.
This service will enhance the efficiency of bus riding by reducing waiting and travel time based on its flexible operation. Hyundai Motor Group conducted a pilot operation of I-MOD in Yeongjong International City for two months from the end of 2019 and started its official operation in October 2020. We are also expanding the service areas in phases to include Songdo International City, Namdong National Industrial Complex, and Geomdan New City.
What is notable is that it uses an AI-based dedicated platform that collects and analyzes all operating processes from vehicle operation history, dispatch, reservation, payment, and garage management to data requested by passengers (call and boarding). Hyundai Motor Group plans to expand the service offering to other areas than the City of Incheon. To do so, the company seeks to develop the service further – Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) to collaborate with other types of transportation systems.
ZET
ZET is a last mile mobility sharing service using electric kickboards and electric bicycles. The Internet of Things (IoT) module is attached to the electric kickboard to provide easy rental and return service, and the optimal place for the electric kickboard through data analysis. In large cities suffering from densely populated and traffic congestion, it is possible to guarantee short-distance (1~3km) travel and to relieve traffic congestion by linking with other means of transportation. Moreover, it is possible to use it safely and easily through self-authentication and driver’s license authentication as a dedicated application.
Another feature of ZET is that it is an open structure in which Hyundai Motor Group provides the platform and small and medium-sized companies provide services within it. ZET provides a management system that can be remotely controlled with a smartphone or computer to individual operating companies that provide services directly to customers and enables flexible response by allowing operators to establish their own desired operating hours and service usage policies. Hyundai Motor Group plans to actively open the door so that more SMEs can provide ZET services and plans to cooperate with related companies continuously so that businesses using personal mobility can continue to grow in Korea.
HMG Journal Operation Team
group@hyundai.comPursuant to the Creative Commons License (CCL) 2.0, all users can copy, distribute, and transmit Information available on the Hyundai Motor Group Newsroom, or use it for exhibitions and performances. Please note, however, that all information is protected by copyright. Information users must use the information available on the Hyundai Motor Group Newsroom for strictly private/personal purposes only.
HMG Operation Policy