Friday, October 25, 2019
Irvine Gets Self Driving, Ride Sharing Service From Hyundai
Irvine is getting its own fleet of self-driving, ride sharing vehicles, according to Hyundai, poowered by autonomous vehicle developers Pony.ai and Via. The new service, called BotRide, which offers up free ride-sharing for the community of Irvine, using a fleet of self-driving Hyundai KONA Electric SUVs. Hyundai said the service will run from November 4th through January 31, 2020, as a pilot. Hyundai did not say how many vehicles will be driving around Irvine's streets during the pilot. Hyundai said users in Irvine can download the BotRide app on either iOS and Android, and hail one of those autonomous SUVs directly from their smartphone. The new app allows multiple riders to share the same vehicle. Hyundai Motor said that part of the effort is specifically aimed at serving college students in Irvine.