"Commercialization of Autonomous Vehicles Imminent... South Korea Must Accelerate Regulatory Improvements"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

원본보기 아이콘

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jin-ho] The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) pointed out that while competition to dominate the autonomous vehicle market is intensifying mainly among major countries such as the United States, Germany, and Japan, South Korea’s institutional improvements are slow, making it urgent to revise regulations in line with the technological development stages for the commercialization of autonomous driving.

According to KPMG, the global autonomous vehicle market size is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 41%, from $7.1 billion in 2020 to $1 trillion by 2035. Among the autonomous driving development levels from Level 0 to Level 5, Level 3 requires driver intervention only when requested by the autonomous driving system. According to the Korea Automotive Technology Institute, more than half of new car sales in 2030 are expected to be equipped with Level 3 or higher autonomous driving technology.

Competition for the commercialization of Level 3 autonomous vehicles is intensifying among major global automakers. In the United States, Tesla has unveiled technology that allows the vehicle to operate without a driver onboard, promoting its Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode, which is evaluated as Level 2.5 to 3.

Japan’s Honda also launched the Legend, an autonomous vehicle equipped with Level 3 functionality, in March 2021. The Level 3 certification obtained by the Honda Legend is an autonomous driving type approval established by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, allowing the autonomous driving system to operate the vehicle instead of the driver only under specific conditions such as highway driving and driving on general roads at speeds below 50 km/h. Germany’s Mercedes-Benz also released the S-Class at the end of 2021, meeting the Level 3 autonomous driving technology approval regulation (UN-R157).

South Korea’s major automaker Hyundai Motor Company plans to develop ‘HDP,’ a Level 3-rated highway autonomous driving system, and install it in the Genesis ‘G90’ by the end of 2022. HDP enables hands-free autonomous driving at speeds up to 60 km/h, and the system automatically accelerates or decelerates when entering or exiting intersections.

KERI analyzed that countries worldwide are accelerating legal and regulatory revisions for the commercialization of Level 3 or higher autonomous vehicles. In particular, major countries continuously supplement laws in accordance with technological development stages even after revising related laws.

The United States, Germany, and Japan have already established legal requirements that allow Level 3 vehicles to operate on actual roads by revising autonomous driving-related laws and systems. In contrast, South Korea has pursued regulatory revisions in four major areas of autonomous vehicles?driver, vehicle equipment, operation, and infrastructure?but currently only allows temporary operation.

KERI pointed out that South Korea is falling behind in the competition for the commercialization of Level 3 or higher autonomous vehicles, as the distance driven and data accumulation scale of autonomous driving pilot services are insufficient compared to major countries such as the United States. While the U.S. advances autonomous driving technology through unmanned pilot operations, most pilot operations in South Korea involve a backup driver onboard, and the driving roads are limited to specific routes within pilot zones.

KERI emphasized that amid the global boom in autonomous vehicle development, it is urgent to revise regulations for the commercialization of Level 3 or higher autonomous driving in South Korea. It stressed that related laws must be revised rapidly in line with the pace of technological development domestically.

In this regard, KERI explained that legal revisions are necessary for South Korea’s Level 3 autonomous driving commercialization, including easing driver attention obligations by autonomous driving mode, establishing requirements and exceptions related to platooning, setting communication standards for autonomous vehicles connected to communication networks, preparing security measures for autonomous driving systems, and establishing road section marking standards for mixed operation of autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles.

KERI Associate Research Fellow Lee Kyu-seok said, “Global major automakers are releasing Level 3 autonomous vehicles and striving for technological development,” and emphasized, “To strengthen the competitiveness of domestic automakers’ autonomous vehicle development and the global market, it is urgent to improve regulations related to autonomous vehicles.”

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.