[Report] "Cheaper than Uber, Running in Downtown LA"... Hyundai Motor Group's Future Mobility Experiment

Future Mobility Corporation 'Motion Lab' Established in LA, USA in November
First Carsharing Service 'Motion Car Share' Tested Personally

Dave Gallon, Executive Vice President of Strategy at MotionLab, demonstrating the service (Photo by Hyundai Motor Group)

[Los Angeles (USA) = Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] When you open the ‘Mocean car share’ app downloaded on your smartphone, shared vehicles available nearby appear on the screen. Users select the desired vehicle and follow the map to the vehicle’s location. Upon arrival nearby, they press the ‘Open Door’ button through the app to board the vehicle. After using the vehicle as needed, they return it.

This car-sharing service, quite familiar in Korea, is operating at Union Station in Los Angeles, USA. Known as a key hub for transportation in Southern California, this location is one of four bases where Hyundai Motor Group’s future mobility business entity, Mocean Lab, is piloting its car-sharing service.

Dave Gallon, Mocean Lab’s Executive Director of Strategy, demonstrated the car-sharing service on the 4th (local time) at the transfer parking lot inside Union Station, saying, “Since late November last year, we have been running the service on a pilot basis for pre-registered users, and the response has been better than expected.” The service will officially launch around mid-month after about a month and a half of pilot operation.

The usage method of Mocean car share is simple. Users reserve nearby vehicles based on location through the smartphone app and start driving within 15 minutes. The app can open the vehicle door near the car without a key, and if the user does not board within 2 minutes, the door automatically locks. The maximum usage period is 3 days. Inside, cables are prepared to support Apple CarPlay and similar functions. Returning to Union Station and pressing the ‘Trip End’ button on the app completes the usage.

Local customers using MotionLab car-sharing service (Photo by Hyundai Motor Group)

During the pilot operation period, 15 Hyundai Ioniq PHEVs with the letter ‘m’?the abbreviation of Mocean Lab?on both sides of the vehicles are roaming the streets of LA. Hyundai operates the service at four major transfer parking lots including Union Station, Westlake Station, Pershing Station, and 7th Street/Metro Center Station. A total of three vehicles are provided at Union Station.

In the US, many companies like Uber and Lyft already offer car-sharing services. Gallon cited affordable usage fees as the differentiating factor of Mocean Lab’s car-sharing service. Excluding the initial service registration fee ($12), the usage fee is $12 per hour including fuel costs. This is only one-fifth of the local taxi or Uber fare, which is about $60. Public transportation such as subways and buses costs about $7, which is cheaper but takes much longer. From March, when a per-minute rate plan is applied, users can use the service for about $4 for 20 minutes of driving, making it competitively priced.

Operating the service based at major subway stations in the city is also considered a strength. These four locations have excellent connectivity with public transportation, enabling the car-sharing service to be used most actively. A Mocean Lab official emphasized, “Competitors providing similar services have shared vehicle bases scattered everywhere, so the number of vehicles available at one location is not large. In contrast, Mocean Lab operates centered on key hubs, so even with fewer total shared vehicles, utilization is higher.”

Dave Gallon, Executive Director of Strategy at MotionLab, explaining the service to local customers (Photo by Hyundai Motor Group)

Starting in March, Mocean Lab plans to expand the service from the current round-trip operation based at stations to a free-floating system where departure and arrival points can differ. In the future, the operation area will be expanded not only in downtown LA but also to suburban areas to allow more convenient vehicle use and return. Initially, the operation area will be expanded to Koreatown, Hollywood, and other areas by the end of this year.

The car-sharing service is the first step in Hyundai Motor Group’s transformation into a ‘smart mobility solution company.’ Recently, Hyundai Motor Group has been planning new mobility businesses combined with various innovative technologies, and Mocean Lab serves as a testbed for new technologies and services.

Mocean Lab plans to conduct demonstration projects for various advanced mobility services, including multi-modal services that provide user convenience to the final destination by linking with micro-mobility (last-mile mobility) currently being piloted in Korea, shuttle sharing (community-type shuttle buses) that can visit multiple destinations along the route reflecting real-time demand, and urban air mobility (UAM) business.

Jung Heon-taek, Executive Director of the Mobility Business Division at Hyundai Motor Group, is introducing the group's mobility service strategy in the United States. (Photo by Hyundai Motor Group)

Jung Heon-taek, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor Group’s Mobility Business Division, said, “North America already has an established ecosystem for mobility services, so instead of pushing the business aggressively, we chose it as a base for demonstration projects.” He added, “There are differences in how future mobility businesses are promoted by region. In Southeast Asia and India, we are discussing various business models that can be jointly developed based on cooperation with local car-sharing service providers such as Grab and Ola, and results will come soon.”

The reason Hyundai Motor Group especially selected LA as the location for Mocean Lab’s establishment is due to LA’s regional characteristics as a large city with a population of about 10 million and the world’s highest level of automobile traffic volume. Additionally, the LA city government, preparing for the 2028 Olympics, is focusing on future mobility projects for transportation and environmental improvement. Executive Director Jung said, “LA, one of the largest and most famous cities in the world, is one of the cities with the highest necessity and potential for success in future mobility businesses including car-sharing services.”

Cooperation with the City of LA is expected to expand further. Hyundai Motor Group plans to participate in the ‘Urban Movement Lab (UML),’ a city transportation system improvement council launched by the City of LA. This council includes institutions such as the LA Department of Transportation and global companies like Verizon and Lyft. If Hyundai Motor Group’s participation is confirmed, it will be the only automobile manufacturer involved.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.