Hyundai showcases future vehicle software at CES 2024

Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Eui-sun [Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group]

Hyundai Motor Group has presented a blueprint for connecting everything in motion, with the ultimate goal of realizing a more convenient and safer mobility environment via a ‘cloud conversion’ that networks people, vehicles, and urban infrastructure.

Hyundai Motor unveiled its future vision, themed ‘Ease every way,’ at a press conference at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, the United States, on Monday (local time), a day ahead of the opening of Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024, the world’s largest consumer electronics and information technology (IT) exhibition.

The company also announced its mid- to long-term software strategy, ‘SDx (software-defined everything).’ SDV (software-defined vehicle), which has already been emphasized by Hyundai Motor, is considered the starting point of the SDx strategy. SDV continuously collects data, and the vast amount of accumulated data is used by automotive artificial intelligence (AI) to make smarter decisions.

Hyundai also introduced the ‘HTWO Grid Solution,’ a comprehensive hydrogen energy solution that accelerates the transition to a hydrogen society. The essence of the HTWO Grid Solution is to integrate the capabilities of each Hyundai Motor affiliate in all stages related to hydrogen energy, including production, storage, transportation, and usage, thereby establishing a hydrogen ecosystem.

Hyundai Motor also presented a plan to increase its annual hydrogen consumption from 13,000 tons in 2023 to 3 million tons by 2035. This figure represents the total amount of hydrogen used across the company’s business operations, including logistics, steelmaking, construction, and factory operations. Three million tons of hydrogen is equivalent to the amount used by 20 million hydrogen passenger cars traveling 15,000 kilometers annually.

Even as global sales of hydrogen vehicles are declining, Hyundai is committed to expanding the hydrogen industry ecosystem. The company believes that hydrogen cars, currently facing high manufacturing costs and an insufficient charging infrastructure, can become a core pillar of its electrification strategy alongside electric vehicles moving forward. Hyundai plans to launch a successor to its NEXO model to strengthen its position in the passenger hydrogen vehicle segment.

Hyundai Motor Executive Chairman Euisun Chung also visited the CES venue and said, “We are incorporating a lot of IT for safety, but there is still a long way to go.” He emphasized that “hydrogen is something we prepare for future generations, not for our generation.”

Hyundai Motor has its largest-ever presence at CES 2024, with a total of five exhibition halls for each affiliate. German carmakers, known for their high-quality internal combustion engine vehicles, also demonstrated their commitment to digital transformation at the event.

Volkswagen AG on Monday announced plans to integrate ChatGPT into some of its vehicles as early as the second quarter of 2024. Volkswagen vehicles currently have a voice assistant feature that allows for voice control, and the company plans to incorporate ChatGPT into this system.

Volkswagen signed a contract with OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, for this purpose, enabling models including ID.4, ID.5, ID.3, the all-new Tiguan, the all-new Passat, and Golf to use ChatGPT starting from the second quarter of 2024.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) also announced plans to introduce a ‘personal voice assistant’ powered by a large language model (LLM)-based generative AI, developed in collaboration with Amazon.com, Inc., into its vehicles within the year. This significantly enhances the current voice support features, according to BMW.

The company also introduced a Level 4 autonomous parking system developed with Valeo, which allows the car to find a parking spot and park itself after the driver gets out of the car in a specific area.

“Drivers can give instructions via smartphone, and the parked car can autonomously move to the driver’s drop-off point,” BMW said.