SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s No. 1 carmaker, said Sunday its autonomous vehicles have succeeded in a test drive from Seoul to PyeongChang, an alpine town that is hosting the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Hyundai has been expanding its self-driving vehicle program and plans to promote its technology at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics set to be held from Feb. 9-25.

Its five driverless cars — two G80s from the automaker’s luxury sub-brand Genesis and three hydrogen-electric vehicles — successfully traveled the 190 kilometers of expressway Friday, the company said.

The models meet SAE International’s Level 4 standards, in which the automatic system controls driving in certain safe conditions. It is one level before a full-automation stage.

The company said it marked the first time in the country for autonomous cars to run on such a long course at the maximum legal speed of 100 to 110 kph. It is also the world’s first trial of hydrogen-electric self-driving vehicles, it added.

(Yonhap)