Kia Leading the way with Automated Driverless Cars

Kia is still a relatively small player in the global car market yet the Korean company can seemingly do no wrong. In the last 14 years Kia has gone from last to first in the mainstream category of the important JD Power Consumer Survey. Not ones to rest on their laurels Kia is planning to replace their entire North American fleet with new models within the next 5 years.

Kia used CES 2016 to announce a US$2 b investment in automated driving technology and are promising partial autonomy by 2020 and full autonomy by 2030. This Kia say is an acknowledgement of the ‘new’ Kia.

The Kia automated driving system is known as “Drive Wise” and will rely heavily on current driver assistance systems such as Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keep Assist.

Kia is showcasing a vehicle which has recently been granted a special licence in the US state of Nevada which allows full automated driving on public roads. I suspect that more than one resident or visitor to Las Vegas has been shocked to see the little Kia Soul test bed slip through traffic without a driver.

Finally, Kia has brought the Kia Novo Concept to CES 2016. The sleek four door sedan features what Kia claims is the “Next-Generation Human Machine Interface”. The fingerprint scanner touchpad automatically initiates individual driver preferences on start-up. This might include music selection, audio volume and seat position.

EFTM’s coverage of CES 2016 is made possible with support from Intel, Hisense, Sony, Samsung, LG and Alcatel One Touch