Hyundai Motor and its sister company Kia Motors said Monday they have developed the world’s first mobile tune-up technology for their electric vehicles.
According to the automakers, the technology allows a driver to control an electric car’s performance, efficiency and driving comfort by setting the car’s torque, acceleration, deceleration, power generation during braking, speed limit, responsiveness and air conditioning, via mobile devices including smartphones and tablet PCs.
A driver tests Hyundai Motor’s mobile EV tune-up technology on a smartphone. (Hyundai Motor)
They plan to apply this technology to their new electric vehicle models in the future, Hyundai Motor said in a statement.
Such customization would offer “unprecedented performance,” the company said, adding that it is the world’s first technology that allows drivers to accurately change settings via mobile devices. Furthermore, a driver can download the customized settings of a car through the tune-up technology and apply this even when driving a different electric car.
To prevent security issues regarding uploading personalized settings on a server, the company said it has applied blockchain technology to encrypt the data.
“Hyundai and Kia plan to add 44 environment-friendly vehicle models, including 23 EV models, to their lineups by 2025, amid increasing necessity to develop vehicle-centered technology and service,” Hyundai Motor said in a statement.
“We will make EV models that can offer customer experience based on one’s lifestyle by developing mobility technology,” it added.
Hyundai Motor has been beefing up its pure-electric car lineup, in line with global carmakers’ push to go electric.
In the fourth quarter of last year, the automaker announced that it aims to be among the top three in the global electric vehicle market by 2025 and to launch an exclusive platform for electric vehicles by 2020 to increase efficiency.
During the Seoul Motor Show earlier this month, Hyundai Motor had promoted the air-purifying capability of its fuel-cell electric vehicle Nexo, which requires a shorter charging time but runs a longer distance compared to electric vehicles.
It also unveiled the Sonata Hybrid, which has a solar roof that can generate electricity and recharge the battery while driving under the sun.
Meanwhile, the industry on Monday speculated the automaker’s first-quarter performance would improve due to high sales of its latest sport utility vehicle model Palisade, which hit the market in December.
“Led by popularity of Palisade, (Hyundai Motor’s) domestic sales went up 8.7 percent in the first quarter compared to the previous year, while its US plant saw operation rate increase by 19 percentage points, which altogether will pull up the automaker’s performance recovery,” said Korea Investment and Securities analyst Kim Jin-woo.
By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)