Stopped Far Back, Then Suddenly a Jaywalker Appeared... Hyundai Robotaxi Showcases Ultimate Precision [CES 2026]

Autonomous Driving That Prioritizes Customer Convenience and Safety Regulations
Paid Ride-Hailing Service Planned for Year-End
Adopting Tesla's 'E2E'... Maintaining Multi-Modality

Motional Robotaxi of Hyundai Motor Group driving through downtown Las Vegas, USA. Hyundai Motor Group

On January 8 (local time), while Motional's robotaxi from Hyundai Motor Group was driving on a six-lane road in Las Vegas, USA, it stopped with an unusually large gap from the car ahead when the traffic light turned red. At first, there was doubt about the limitations of sensor measurement technologies such as cameras and radars, but immediately afterward, a pedestrian suddenly jaywalked in front of the vehicle. The robotaxi had detected the movement of people on the sidewalk and proactively secured a large gap between vehicles, predicting the possibility of someone entering the road.

When experiencing the Motional robotaxi in the Las Vegas area, the vehicle drove smoothly throughout the ride. On main roads, it accelerated up to 42 miles per hour (67.5 km/h), but in sections with speed bumps and consecutive stop signs, it slowed down to about 8 miles per hour (12.8 km/h). In the United States, when encountering a stop sign, which serves a similar function to traffic lights, the vehicle must come to a complete stop before proceeding.

On the 8th (local time), Hyundai Motor Group's Motional Robotaxi was driving through downtown Las Vegas, USA, showing the pedestrian jaywalking on the passenger tablet. Photo by Jeongju Jeon

On the 8th (local time), Motional robotaxi from Hyundai Motor Group is driving through the streets of Las Vegas, USA, without a human supervisor. Photo by Yeongju Jeon

Heungsu Kim, Executive Vice President of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia GSO, said, "Some robotaxi companies have chosen policies that flexibly apply traffic laws, but Motional is developing its technology based on a policy of strict regulatory compliance," adding, "You will also be able to experience the finely tuned driving convenience and acceleration/deceleration performance."

Motional is a joint venture established by Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, a US automotive technology supplier. So far, Hyundai Motor Group has invested approximately 3.4 billion dollars (4.9636 trillion won) in Motional.

Paid Ride-Hailing Service to Launch in Las Vegas by Year-End

Motional robotaxi will enter the North American robotaxi market competition by launching a paid service in Las Vegas around the end of this year. Currently, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google, is the only company in the North American robotaxi market to have successfully commercialized a fully driverless service. Cruise, owned by General Motors, has suspended its service following an accident, while Tesla has only announced plans for commercialization.

Laura Major, CEO of Motional, spoke on the 8th (local time) in Las Vegas, USA. Hyundai Motor Group

Laura Major, CEO of Motional, said, "Las Vegas is a region with high demand for ride-hailing services due to its developed tourism and entertainment industries, making it suitable for commercialization," adding, "The frequent construction zones and large numbers of pedestrians allow us to collect diverse driving data in complex environments, and the unique settings such as casinos and shopping centers provide opportunities to test in distinctive scenarios, making Las Vegas a favorable city for future technology generalization."

Regarding concerns that Motional is a latecomer to the robotaxi market, she dismissed them, saying, "There is still no company equipped with a cost-efficient autonomous driving system." CEO Major continued, "For the next-generation platform, we are considering ways to reduce costs while meeting safety standards, such as integrating cameras and radars," and "We are also seeking ways to reduce performance computing costs through partnerships and other strategies."

Executive Vice President Kim said, "Cost reduction can be achieved by leveraging the strengths of having Hyundai Motor Group as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and Aptiv as a Tier 1 supplier as parent companies," adding, "We are discussing whether costs can be preemptively reduced at the vehicle development stage and how further reductions can be achieved in manufacturing supply chain management (SCM)."

Adopting 'E2E' Like Tesla... Radar and Lidar to Remain

On this day, Motional also announced that it would adopt 'end-to-end (E2E)' autonomous driving technology, similar to Tesla's approach. The 'rule-based' method previously used by Motional allows autonomous vehicles to understand road conditions using sensors such as cameras, radar, and lidar, along with high-definition maps, and then operate according to rules set in advance by humans. While this method is stable, it has limitations in flexibility when faced with unexpected situations.

In contrast, E2E is a method in which a large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) model autonomously performs all tasks necessary for autonomous driving within the vehicle. This approach offers greater flexibility in responding to unexpected situations compared to the rule-based method, but it also has the disadvantage of higher costs due to the need for high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs).

From the left, Heungsu Kim, Executive Vice President of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia GSO, Laura Major, CEO of Motional, and Jihan Yu, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Autonomous Driving Development Center. Hyundai Motor Group

Motional has decided to adopt a 'hybrid' approach during the transition to the E2E system. For example, even if an autonomous vehicle uses the E2E system, when it encounters a construction zone while driving, the rule-based method-such as stopping the vehicle, recognizing the conditions for changing lanes, and waiting until the lane change is possible-can be applied first. CEO Major said, "With the hybrid system, we will ensure at least a minimum level of safety through the rule-based method."

However, unlike Tesla, Motional does not plan to rely solely on cameras without other sensors; instead, it will maintain a 'multi-modality' approach that utilizes radar and lidar as well. CEO Major explained, "Multi-modality allows for greater safety because if one sensor fails, other sensors can be used in combination," adding, "For example, it ensures safe driving even at night, in strong sunlight, or in weather conditions such as snow and rain."