Hyundai to Introduce New Connected Car Systems in Two Years

Hyundai Motor Co. has announced that the company will be launching new connected-car systems allowing drivers to operate devices in their homes from their vehicles through voice commands in two years. The technology will be first introduced in South Korea for the Hyundai brand as part of Hyundai’s connected-car strategy. The announcement was made at the Seoul Motor Show by Hwang Seung Ho, executive vice president for the Hyundai Motor Group’s Auto Intelligence Division. He oversees connected-car development for the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands.

Home-to-car connectivity will be introduced in 2018, and car-to-home connectivity arrives the following year, Hwang said. After debuting the technology in the South Korean market, it will be gradually rolled out to other markets. This technology will work in tandem with
platforms like Amazon Echo, the voice-controlled smart home hub, and Google Home, which is a similar system from Google.

Hyundai used the Seoul Motor Show to provide visitors with a preview of how the technologies would work. The home-to-car system will make it possible for motorists to use speech commands to start their cars and open or close their doors. Car-to-home will allow them to switch lights off and on, adjust climate control settings and operate audio systems even before they reach home.

The technologies will be offered using Hyundai’s Blue Link telematics system which is already available in the US market. In addition to this, Hyundai is working on its very own proprietary high-speed, in-vehicle communication network to simplify the process of sending signals for everything ranging from dashboard switches and accelerator pedals to onboard cameras for streamlining the management of in-car communications. Different systems have different requirements with camera sensors, for example, needing high-speed, big-data-load pathways, while door locks can do with slower speed channels.

“There are many signals going on inside a car,” Hwang said. “We are considering a new architecture for an in-vehicle network incorporating all those signals. Hyundai has been seeking technical partners to make the process faster. Last year, Hyundai and networking company Cisco Systems Inc. announced a collaboration to work on the platform.