The public is none other than KG Motility's "Korando Emotion." According to Seoul City, three Korando Emotions are currently operating as self-driving taxis late at night.
The Sea is powered by technology from SWM, a self-driving startup. It operates from 11 p.m. on weekdays to 5 a.m. the following day and is free to use in most of the Gangnam area.
The vehicle operates in autonomous driving mode on roads with four or more lanes, while on one-lane roads and in child protection areas, the test driver on board operates the vehicle manually to ensure safety.
Since the service began, a total of 5,130 trips have been completed without any accidents as of the end of July this year. Residents have given positive feedback, saying things like, "High quality service is being maintained," and "The service area needs to be expanded."
The city of Seoul has received high praise from its citizens and expressed its gratitude to KG Motility. A Seoul city official said, "At first, other automakers were reluctant to share information due to trade secrets.
"I was reluctant to do so, but KG Motility was the most proactive in operating the service," he said, adding, "KG Motility is a valuable operator in implementing Seoul's transportation policy."
The comfortable ride of the And Emotion also seems to have played an important role in drawing positive feedback from citizens."
Seoul City expresses gratitude to KG Mobility for its self-driving taxis
This goes back to when we were selecting the operator. Autonomous driving mobility companies will convert conventional completed vehicles into autonomous vehicles by installing hardware systems and software developed by each company.
To achieve this, automakers must disclose information about their vehicles. This could potentially expose trade secrets, and most automakers have been reluctant to do so.
Motility was said to have been the most proactive in the business even before it received an order for the late-night self-driving taxi demonstration project in Seoul.
Prior to this, KG Motility and SWM had announced that Level 4 autonomous driving would be possible on most roads in 2022.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding for technical cooperation on the advanced development of autonomous driving technology. Under this agreement, KG Motility will provide dynamic information on the Korando Emotion's longitudinal and lateral control and vehicle response.
SWM provides software for positioning, recognition, prediction, judgment, and control, as well as various hardware required for autonomous driving.
Based on this, SWM won the order from Seoul City, beating out its rivals and receiving the highest score, and was awarded the opportunity to demonstrate autonomous driving with free passengers.
Seoul City aims to switch to a paid service within the year. It also plans to operate the service during the day as well as at night, and to increase the number of vehicles in operation. Through this, it aims to improve the public's transportation system.
Seoul City plans to issue a notice to solicit business operators in the second half of this year. KG Motors is already operating in the model autonomous vehicle operation area in Seoul.
In addition to SWM, which has a partnership with Utility, other manufacturers are also conducting self-driving taxi experiments without passengers, meaning that various companies can take on the challenge of Seoul's initiative.
The key will be whether other companies can demonstrate competitiveness that surpasses SWM, which has already gained experience carrying passengers over the past year.
A Seoul city official said, "We are in the process of issuing a public notice to select a paid transportation company and verifying its safety.
"The specific usage fees will be decided by the Seoul City Self-Driving Car Management Committee after consultation with the existing taxi industry to determine what the appropriate fee is," he said.
2025/08/22 07:07 KST
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