Hyundai's Cars Will Get Over-The-Air Updates Starting Next Year
Hyundai and high-tech giant Cisco have announced a partnership that will see the South Korean automaker's vehicles gain over-the-air software update capability as soon as late 2019.
The firms revealed their new partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas today, which they said will allow them to "disrupt the auto industry at a faster pace."
It's closer to the truth to say the tie-up will better allow Hyundai to keep up with developments in connected vehicles and autonomous driving.
In a joint press release, the companies said in-vehicle data demands will "increase exponentially" as cars adopt the various sensors and cameras that will let them communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure, interactions that will allow cars to safely travel with limited human intervention.
The technology will also let Hyundai update the vehicles remotely with new software, presumably with a focus on loading the cars with the latest in self-driving programming.
But a side benefit could be the ability for the car to download new code to address issues in more traditional vehicle components, such as transmission shift quality complaints or other driveability quirks. Right now, those can only be addressed by taking the car to a dealership, where a technician has to use a wired connection between the car and the shop's computer to make the change.
Electric vehicle maker Tesla has used over-the-air updates for years now, using the technology to add or unlock new features in its cars, like tweaking the "Ludicrous Mode" setting that endows the Model S P100D with supercar-like acceleration with even more power.
