science

Motional

Motional is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Motional rather than just read about it. In short: Motional is an American autonomous vehicle company founded in March 2020 as a joint venture between automaker Hyundai Motor Group and auto supplier Aptiv. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Motional also maintains operations in Pittsburgh, Singapore, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.

Key takeaways

Motional belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Motional to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Motional from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Motional is an American autonomous vehicle company founded in March 2020 as a joint venture between automaker Hyundai Motor Group and auto supplier Aptiv. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Motional also maintains operations in Pittsburgh, Singapore, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Motional began testing its newest generation of vehicles in Las Vegas, Nevada, in February 2021, and also operates vehicles in Pittsburgh and Santa Monica, California.

Name 'Motional' is a portmanteau of motion and emotional, with motion referring to the movement of self-driving cars and emotional expressing the willingness to realize the value of human respect.

History

2013 - nuTonomy and Ottomatika, Inc. are established as spin-offs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University. 2015 - Delphi acquired Ottomatika 2015 - Delphi demonstrates what they claim to be America's first fully autonomous transcontinental crossing. 2016 - nuTonomy trial operated the world's first autonomous taxi in Singapore. 2017 - nuTonomy begins autonomous driving in Boston 2017 - Delphi acquired nuTonomy 2017 - Delphi renamed as Aptiv 2018 - Aptiv acquired NuTonomy and Ottomatika and formed an Autonomous Driving Team 2018 - First public robotaxi service tests in Las Vegas in collaboration with Lyft, with 50,000 rides in the first year 2019 - Aptiv & Hyundai Motor Group officially announce an autonomous driving joint venture 2020 - The establishment of Motional, an autonomous driving technology development joint venture 2021 - Autonomous (SAE level 4) vehicle test drive successful on normal roads 2022 - Motional and Lyft's public service is launched in Las Vegas using autonomous, all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 vehicles with a safety driver 2022 - Motional and Lyft announced the planned launch of a fully driverless ride-hail service in Los Angeles Karl Iagnemma, founder of NuTonomy, was CEO of Motional. In September 2024 Karl stepped down as CEO of Motional. Currently Laura Major is the president and CEO of Motional as of 2025.

Services

Finances Motional is majority owned by Hyundai Motor Group. In 2024, Motional completed a $475M funding round with Hyundai.

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Motional

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Motional claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Motional before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Motional ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Motional

In research: Motional appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Motional in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Motional is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2020 establishments in Massachusetts, Hyundai Motor Group, Self-driving car companies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Motional outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Motional” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Motional in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Motional means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Motional out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Motional in simple terms?

Why does Motional matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Motional?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Motional.