It would not be wrong to say that the automotive sector is one of the sectors that has been most affected by the ongoing technological developments. In this sector, where electric cars are slowly spreading all over the world, we are faced with a new technology every day. Autonomous driving technologies, which allow vehicles to drive by themselves, are also leading the way in this regard.
Many giant automobile manufacturers such as Tesla, BMW and Mercedes are rapidly increasing their investments in autonomous driving. In the past weeks, we have conveyed to you that the German company Volkswagen is planning to make a move on autonomous driving and may cooperate with Huawei. Now, a move has come from Kia, a South Korean automotive company, in this regard.
‘AutoMode’ drive technology will be used first in the EV9 model
Kia announced its targets for the next eight years at the Investor Day 2022 held yesterday. In the statements made, it was stated that 14 fully electric models will be released by 2027, and 1.2 million electric vehicles are aimed to be sold by 2030. Let’s also say that it is stated that the sales of both internal combustion and electric cars are expected to reach 4 million by 2030. However, the most striking thing in the statements was the announcement that an autonomous driving technology called ‘Automode’ would be added to the cars produced by the company.
According to the South Korea-based company, this technology will be used in the electric model EV9, which was first introduced in November 2021 and attracts attention with its design. This SUV model, which resembles Range Rover vehicles, is planned to be released by 2023. It is also noteworthy that this vehicle has a steering wheel design similar to the one we saw in the Tesla Model S Plaid vehicle. In addition, it is stated that the vehicle, which is stated to be able to reach a speed of 100 km in five seconds, will have a range of 540 km.
In the official statements made by Kia, the following statements were made regarding the technology to be added to the vehicle: “EV9 will be the first model equipped with Kia’s advanced AutoMode autonomous driving technology. The use of this technology will be expanded later.” It should be noted that there is not much information about this new technology.
According to what has been reported so far, AutoMode is a third-level driving technology that allows the vehicle to drive itself without driver intervention. ‘What is your third level of autonomous driving?’ For those who ask; this technology includes vehicle environmental control, acceleration and braking; it is called technologies that can perform most functions of a kind of driver. Although these technologies are quite advanced, the driver still needs to be behind the wheel and ready for the necessary interventions.
Kia EV9