What better mix for the world’s most highly publicized electronics event than smart connected devices, gaming notebooks, electric cars that go from 0-60mph in 2.39 seconds and cars with no drivers?
Korean carmaker Hyundai seems to be the latest entrant into the autonomous driving segment with its Hyundai IONIQ, an affordable hatchback model with self-driving capability.
How was Hyundai able to make an “affordable” car that could drive itself?
According to the company, it uses cheaper sensors and lower computing power to achieve the low cost of production. However, no details were revealed about consumer pricing or when the car would be available to the market.
As such, it remains a prototype, but several media company representatives have already tested it out, and say that even though it uses fewer sensors, it was able to account for illegal maneuvers made by other cars on the road and adjust its own reactions.
A company representative was seen on video telling a BBC correspondent that Hyundai was looking at a price difference of about $3,000 compared to a non-autonomous vehicle. That would put the estimated pricing of the IONIQ at roughly around the $20,000 to $24,000 when you compare it with a 2016 Hyundai Accent Hatchback or a 2016 Hyundai Elantra GT Hatchback.
But, of course, we don’t have any information around when the Hyundai IONIQ will go into production and what the final cost will be, but sub-$25k is a reasonable estimate based on what Hyundai is selling now and the information from the Hyundai representative.
The Hyundai IONIQ 2017 line-up of EV, Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid cars was originally unveiled at the New York International Auto Show 2016. The EV and the Hybrid models were expected to be available during the fourth quarter of 2016, while the Plug-in option was supposed to come later, in Spring 2017.
It’s unclear at this point whether the self-driving Hyundai IONIQ revealed at CES 2017 is part of this line up, or an upgrade option that may come later on in the year.
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