Mobility infrastructure corporations Humax Mobility will build out robotaxi operating infrastructure.
Humax Mobility said on the 3rd that on the 2nd it launched the "robotaxi fleet operating infrastructure joint business consultative body" with subsidiaries Hi Parking, Humax EV, and Peoplecar and affiliates KILEE3 Jesper and Konatus, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) among the six companies.
The consultative body will push ahead in stages with five tasks: identifying models for Autonomous Driving vehicle parking and standby hubs; linking charging and vehicle management operating systems; proof-of-concept (PoC) operations for Autonomous Driving vehicles; developing cooperation models with taxi operators; and identifying joint businesses with Autonomous Driving operators in and outside Korea.
To ensure Autonomous Driving vehicles can operate stably once deployed in mobility services, the goal is to consolidate parking, standby, charging, and vehicle management, which had been split into separate businesses, into a single operating system.
The company said the global Autonomous Driving market has already entered the commercialization stage and that in Korea a pilot program of about 3,000 vehicles is underway through next year, but the operating infrastructure industry that will handle vehicle charging and maintenance has not yet formed sufficiently.
Participants in the consultative body plan to use nationwide operating assets as robotaxi infrastructure. Hi Parking operates about 1,400 parking lots, and Humax EV operates about 3,300 charging stations. The vehicle management network linked with KILEE3 Jesper also totals about 1,350. The six companies will consolidate these assets step by step into Autonomous Driving fleet operating infrastructure.
Humax Mobility will integrate capabilities in parking, charging, and vehicle management and its cooperation structure with local taxi and fleet operators, and will oversee the identification of joint businesses and partnerships with Autonomous Driving operators in and outside Korea. For overseas Autonomous Driving operators, it will bundle and provide the parking, charging, and vehicle management infrastructure needed for domestic services, and for existing taxi and local mobility operators, it plans to prepare cooperation models that allow them to participate as operating partners in the Autonomous Driving ecosystem.
Hi Parking will supply parking control technology to corporate taxi depots to link with the robotaxi control platform, and in areas without depots it will supplement with its own parking infrastructure to expand operating hubs. Humax EV will take on EV charging infrastructure and charging operations capabilities, while KILEE3 Jesper will handle vehicle inspections, maintenance, and condition management. Peoplecar will participate in the consultative body's platform cooperation based on its mobility platform operating experience.
Konatus, leveraging its franchise taxi business base and taxi association network, will structure cooperation models that allow corporate taxi depots to be converted into robotaxi hubs and create new jobs for existing workers so that robotaxis can land smoothly without clashing with the existing taxi industry.
Jeong Seong-min, head of Humax Mobility, said, "In the Autonomous Driving era, competitiveness will hinge not only on how well a vehicle drives but on how stably and efficiently it operates," adding, "Based on each company's existing capabilities in parking, charging, and vehicle management and our win-win partnership with the taxi industry, we will establish ourselves as a practical fleet operating partner that supports Autonomous Driving operators in and outside Korea in scaling services stably."