Socar said on Tuesday it invited executives of the Korea Rental Car Business Cooperative Federation to a test ride event for its Level 4 autonomous-driving shared-car pilot service. The event, held on April 6, was attended by 22 people including federation leaders and provincial cooperative executives, who experienced the technology and discussed strategies for the future of the rental car industry.

Rental car services face operational constraints because staff must move vehicles or users must visit specific locations to rent and return them. The demonstration presented an on-site pilot model that addresses this issue using autonomous driving technology. Socar is participating in a consortium for the government project, "Development of Level 4/4+ autonomous-driving shared-car service technology."

Participants experienced core systems of the multi-ministry research and development program, the Autonomous Driving Technology Development Innovation Project Group, led by the Korea Transportation Institute and jointly carried out by Socar and others. When a user calls a car via an app, the vehicle drives autonomously to the user's location, and after use it moves by itself to the return location or a garage. The test ride used a Torres EVX developed as an autonomous vehicle and drove a roughly 4.5-km section around the Hwaseong autonomous driving living lab.

The event also included discussion of a technological alternative to reduce empty-vehicle driving and labour-centred operating costs through an AI-based automatic repositioning algorithm. The federation, the country's largest rental car operators' group representing 16 regional cooperatives nationwide and more than 1,200 member companies, showed strong interest at the event in how autonomous driving technology could change vehicle repositioning and management efficiency.

Kang Kyung-pyo (강경표), a team leader at the Korea Transportation Institute, said autonomous-driving shared-car services can be applied even in the early stages of Level 4 because users, unlike in robotaxis, can act as both passengers and drivers. He said he hopes to lead early commercialisation of autonomous-driving shared-car services in South Korea through cooperation with the Korea Rental Car Business Cooperative Federation.

Choi Yoon-chul (최윤철), the federation chairman, said after the ride that he had thought it was only a vague story for the distant future, but was surprised that the technology was much more complete than he expected after riding in it. He said he became convinced that the rental car industry should accelerate adoption of autonomous driving.

Ko Jae-wook (고재욱), head of Socar's external cooperation unit, said autonomous driving technology is a major paradigm shift the entire mobility ecosystem must face and prepare for together, beyond the achievements of any specific company. He said Socar will strengthen a model of mutual growth and partnerships for the autonomous driving era by communicating closely with the rental car industry based on its service operation know-how and autonomous driving research capabilities.