Kia has successfully demonstrated remote driving on public roads for the first time among domestic automakers, significantly enhancing the potential for commercializing related technology.

On the 27th, Kia held a 'Remote Driving Demonstration Performance Sharing Meeting' in Jeju with attendees from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, the National Police Agency, and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, revealing the current status of technology development and demonstration results. This demonstration was the result of a joint effort by the 'Remote Driving Consortium' formed with Socar, autonomous driving startup SUM, and KT.

Remote driving is a technology that allows the direct control of unmanned vehicles from a control center using 4G and 5G networks. It can be used as an alternative in case of autonomous driving system failures and has the advantage of rapid service deployment. It is also suitable for supporting mobility in transportation-deprived areas, attracting attention from the global automotive industry.

The Kia consortium has been conducting demonstrations in areas such as Jeju and Hwaseong after obtaining a regulatory sandbox demonstration exception from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in April. Kia took charge of the overall project, Socar provided the car-sharing platform, SUM developed the remote solution, and KT was responsible for building and managing the network infrastructure.

The consortium developed a remote driving system based on Kia's PBV (Purpose Built Vehicle) 'PV5', assuming a car-sharing operational environment. To prepare for communication failures, network redundancy was applied, and multi-layered safety measures such as remote driving personnel training and emergency dispatch systems were established.

After completing the first phase of internal verification, the second phase involved successfully conducting driving tests over approximately 70 hours and 1,000 km using PV5 and others across various public road sections such as Jeju Airport-Socar Terminal and Jeju Airport-Yongduam over the past month.

The consortium plans to enhance the technology based on Jeju demonstration data and expand the remote driving demonstration project in stages by collaborating with various local governments by 2027. At the site, representatives from Kia, partner companies, and government agencies experienced the safety and reliability of the technology by riding in the PV5 remote driving vehicle.

A Kia representative stated, “Remote driving technology can contribute to expanding public infrastructure, such as visit-type mobility services for transportation-deprived areas,” adding, “We will expand the application range to various industrial areas such as car-sharing and logistics in the future.”

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