Kia Lands License To Test Autonomous Cars On Nevada Roads

Many major automakers are already testing autonomous cars on public roads around the country, and some tech firms are as well. Google operates one of the biggest fleets of autonomous cars and they have been testing for years on public roads. Kia has announced that it has now been granted permission to test its own autonomous cars in Nevada.

Kia and Hyundai are working together to experiment with partially and fully autonomous cars and technologies in real world driving conditions. Kia has a goal of delivering partially autonomous cars to market by 2020.

The delivery of fully autonomous Kia cars will happen by 2030. Kia and Hyundai are investing $2 billion into the development of needed tech to reach those goals by 2018. The money will be used to develop Advanced Driver Assistance System technology and hire new engineers for the project.

Reports indicate that Kia plans to build its autonomous and semi-autonomous test cars using its Soul EV. Hyundai will certainly want to use one of its own models for autonomous testing, but exactly which one is unknown at this time. Kia didn't offer a specific date for when the autonomous test fleet will take to the roads.

SOURCE: Kia