LOS ANGELES, Nov. 28, 2017 – Hyundai Motor America and Smartcar, a Mountain View based company working to drive innovations in connected car technology, today demonstrated a proof of concept connecting businesses to Hyundai vehicles with Blue Link. This connection will allow mobile car washing, grocery delivery, and on-demand fuel delivery companies to securely access Hyundai vehicle functions, such as the vehicle’s location, remote locking/unlocking and data such as mileage. Hyundai and Smartcar will start a pilot program called Blue Link All-Access with California businesses in the first half of 2018.
The secure Smartcar/Blue Link infrastructure would allow companies like Washos, an on-demand carwash service, the ability to locate an owner’s Hyundai and access it without keys or the owner being present so a detailer could quickly clean the car, inside and out. A Hyundai owner could also have Romaine lettuce, wheat bread and eggs delivered directly to their Santa Fe using a grocery delivery service’s mobile app without ever having to leave the office. A car sharing company could also take advantage of this partnership to allow remote access and access authorization to vehicles. The user must link their Blue Link account with their service provider account to grant permission and allow access to the vehicle.
“This proof of concept will allow us to understand the benefits, requirements and challenges of linking to third party providers,” said Manish Mehrotra, director, digital business planning and connected operations, Hyundai Motor America. “Developing an open Blue Link ecosystem creates a myriad of possible business models for the future.”
The partnership marks the outset of a number of possible features that could be available to drivers in the future. A connection to Smartcar in the future could help with:
- Car sharing programs
- Dry cleaning delivery services
- Grocery delivery services
- On-demand fuel or charging services
- Parking location information services
“Apps are a fundamental differentiator for car owners. Smartcar and Hyundai are advancing the creation of an ecosystem of apps and services for connected vehicles,” said Sahas Katta, co-founder and CEO of Smartcar. “This partnership will bring unique experiences to Hyundai vehicle owners, starting with California.”
How It Works
Smartcar’s platform uses extensions to that of Hyundai Blue Link to send remote functions to the vehicle’s Telematics Management Unit. This model provides ease of “plugability” for the inclusion of various services into the ecosystem. As an example, a user could link to on-demand car wash company Washos by doing the following:
1. The owner links their Blue Link account to the Washos app and accepts the terms and conditions.
2. The customer then requests their vehicle to be washed through the Washos app and Blue Link provides the vehicle location to the Washos detailer’s smartphone app.
3. The Blue Link connection allows the Washos detailer’s app to unlock the car so the interior can be vacuumed and the owner can use Blue Link to lock the keys in the car in case it needs to be moved. This removes the need to meet a Washos team member at another location.
4. Once the vehicle is cleaned it is locked and secured by the representative and the detailer’s access is removed once the wash is complete.
5. The owner receives a completion notification.
6. The Washos detailer can no longer access the vehicle.