Rob Ewitt is confused. The ice hockey fan only wanted to get a quick ride to the next venue, and now he appears to be taking a trip into the future. The young man from Canada is sitting in one of the five Nexos that Hyundai brought to Pyeongchang to demonstrate the current state of research on automated driving. For two weeks, the unremarkable SUV ferried people between sports venues on a course of about 15 kilometers, traversing roundabouts, mastering pedestrian crossings and bus lanes, stopping at traffic lights and remaining unfazed by fans running across the four-lane road celebrating victories.

But even if Ewitt looks at the friendly Hyundai engineer in disbelief as he presses the button usually reserved for cruise control and puts his hands into his lap, the steering wheel turning itself, the journey through the Olympic city is nothing special. Car manufacturers have been demonstrating for years that autopilot systems can master complex situations in city traffic. Even Hyundai. Take their impressive test route through Las Vegas at the 2017 CES, for example. And still, the test driver seems relieved when the Nexo doesn’t make a smooth turn or when it fails to spot an obstacle until the last minute. After all, if everything goes well, nobody would believe him when he says the market introduction of such systems might still take a while.