Hyundai Motor is upgrading its Bluelink connected car services technology with a range of new features. The new i30 will be the company’s first model to be equipped with the upgraded Bluelink.

Hyundai’s Bluelink combines intelligent automotive and IT technologies in order to provide greater comfort, safety and convenience for drivers. In addition to a refined user interface, the upgraded Bluelink offers a range of new benefits and services for Hyundai customers, including Connected Routing, Last Mile Navigation and live parking information, and a new user profile feature.

Connected Routing. With the new cloud-based Connected Routing navigation, driving routes are calculated on a server inside the Bluelink cloud environment, rather than through the car’s infotainment system. Connected Routing harnesses real-life and historical speed information through GPS, which is stored in the server and updated every month, to predict upcoming traffic every five minutes. This ensures more accurate traffic forecasting, more precise times of arrival, and more reliable route recalculations. In addition, the technology uses AI to learn the preferred routes of users.

Last Mile Navigation. The new Last Mile Navigation feature allows customers to continue the journey to their final destination after their car has parked. After turning off the engine, a pop-up appears on the screen to activate last mile guidance on the Bluelink smartphone app. The user can then choose from either Augmented Reality guidance or Google Maps, and is guided for a range of between 200 metres and two kilometers on their smartphone.

User Profile. With the new User Profile feature, drivers can install up to two main accounts and one guest account, and upload a profile picture via the Bluelink app. User Profile stores users’ vehicle preferences, such as the position of the wing mirrors or their favoured cluster layout, in the cloud. This allows drivers as well to easily transfer their preferred settings between different Hyundai cars for even more convenience.

Live Parking Information. The Live Parking Information function has also received a series of upgrades, with new settings for parking type and availability. On-street parking and price information is now available in 43 countries, including all major cities - up from 75 major cities in Europe.

Like the previous version of Bluelink, parking information is updated every 15 minutes via GPS. One kilometer before the vehicle arrives at its destination, a parking icon pops up on the screen. The user must then click on the icon and a full list of on- and off-street parking is then shown on the map.

In addition, live filling station information includes fuel prices as before, but now illustrates these with different colours on the map. A green dot signifies relatively low prices, while a red dot shows where prices are higher. Like parking information, prices for filling stations are also updated every 15 minutes.

La Liste restaurants. Hyundai’s developers have updated the POI database, so users can now search from a quality selection of La Liste restaurants. Users can explore detailed information about each restaurant, such as opening hours, the type of cuisine available and whether dining is formal or casual.

Speed cameras. The design of the speed camera feature (if legal in a certain country) has received a design overhaul. Drivers are alerted 300 meters before they approach a speed camera on normal roads, and one kilometer ahead on motorways. In addition, GPS-based data shows the vehicle’s speed on the screen, which is highlighted in red when the car is above the speed limit.

Weather. The weather feature has also received a design update, and has been moved from Live Services to the Bluelink menu. Live weather is updated every 20 minutes, and users have the possibility to save their favorite city for weather display. Now, weather forecasts are provided when the user issues a voice command.

Online Free Text Search.Users can now search for an address or POI in one menu utilizing data based on an online “Free Text Search”. Additionally, POI search now has autofill functionality to save drivers time in selecting a destination.

Upgrades. This autumn, customers of Hyundai models already equipped with Bluelink can visit their certified Hyundai dealer in order to get a software upgrade so they can enjoy these new services as well.