Hyundai Motor Group said on the 9th that Kia's purpose-built vehicle (PBV) PV5 gave a person with transportation challenges, Kim On-yu, 38, a seaside trip for the first time in 23 years.
Kim is a respiratory disability patient who has relied on an ambu-bag (manual resuscitator) for 23 years due to aftereffects from a medical accident that occurred in 2002.
Hyundai Motor Group supported Kim through Kia Green Travel so Kim could take a trip with family in a PV5 WAV (wheelchair-accessible vehicle).
Green Travel is Kia's social contribution program that provides travel opportunities to people with transportation challenges. Since 2012, the number of people with transportation challenges who have received support has reached about 110,000.
Hyundai Motor Group produced a video documenting the family's trip to show how an electrified PBV can expand a person's daily life and possibilities.
Released under the title "The Moving Room," the video begins with Kim's wish: "I wish this room (hospital room) could move as a whole."
As the view outside the hospital room window shifts to the view outside a car window, the video shows Kim heading to Gangwon-do with medical equipment powered by the PV5 WAV's vehicle-to-load (V2L) system.
The video was released on Hyundai Motor Group's YouTube channel on Jul. 19 and, as of the day of reporting, has drawn significant attention, surpassing 10.2 million views.
Hyundai Motor Group also said that of roughly 1,100 comments posted on the video, about 61% proposed ideas for using PBVs, and that it plans to explore service planning and ways to create social value using those ideas.
Proposed ideas fell into areas including medical and care (34.3%), education and culture (28.9%), mobility and travel (14.0%), daily life, commerce and public services (8.2%), companion animals (7.4%), and disaster and emergency (7.1%).
Kim said, "This trip gave me the courage that I can do it, and I hope more people can move freely and have new experiences."