Kia reveals its driverless future

Kia has announced it will offer “partially-autonomous” driving technology on its cars in 2020 before introducing a range of “fully-autonomous” cars a decade later in 2030.

Confirming that will invest more than $2.7 billion in the self-drive technology by 2018, the Korean car-maker says it has already begun working with its suppliers to create its driverless tech.

One example, says Kia, is its next-gen, semi-autonomous cruise control that it calls, Highway Driving Assist (HDA).

Using an array of sensors, lasers, radars and cameras, in 2020 your HDA-equipped Kia will offer hands-free driving on the freeway, maintaining a safe distance, adhering to the speed limit and, even, safely overtaking other vehicles with limited interaction from the driver.

Traffic Jam Assist is also on its way. This system will steer, lane keep assist and maintain a safe gap even in a slow moving crawl.

Finally, Kia has also confirmed it is readying a remote-control auto parking system that enables its cars of the near future to park themselves. Controlled by a driver’s smartphone, this could even see empty cars self-park in a space too narrow to open the driver’s or passenger doors.

All of this is expected to arrive by 2020 before the Kia embarks on its next chapter — fully autonomous vehicles in 2030, although it’s not yet known how Kia’s futuristic driverless cars will take shape, but what is clear is they will be able to operate without any interaction at all from the occupants.

As well as self-driving cars, the Korean car-maker has also announced that it plans to improve the efficiency of all its cars by at least 25 per cent over 2014 levels.

By 2020, this will involve growing the number of its hybrid, pure-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell cars from four to 11 models.

This will also see 70 per cent of today’s engine range replaced by more efficient, cleaner engines.

As part of the five-year plan, Kia is also targeting 2020 as the year it will launch an all-new global hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Expecting to make 1000 units a year, the new hydrogen-powered vehicle will offer the driver an 800km range and a top speed of around 170km/h.