Is The “Digital Key” Feature Available On Hyundai Canada Cars? Inquiring Minds Want To Know

I was directed to this Reddit thread by a reader. In short, it has a guy who started said thread complaining that he bought a 2024 Hyundai Elantra sedan partially because it supposedly came with feature that allows you to unlock your car using your smart phone or smart watch. The feature is called “digital key” and it’s been slowly rolling out to various car brands over the last few years.

The thing is, when he couldn’t get it working, he reached out to Hyundai Canada and this is what they replied with:

Here’s the problem with this statement. If you go to the Elantra section of the Hyundai Canada website, and scroll down about half way, you see this:

So it lists digital key as a feature. That makes Hyundai Canada’s response a bit suspicious as the kids say. But I figured, maybe this only applies to certain trim levels. Thus I paged through the Specs section noting that in his post on Reddit he had said that he had the “Luxury” trim level and found nothing that provided any further clarity.

Here’s the thing, long time readers will remember that Hyundai Canada back in 2015 went through a bit of a PR crisis where people who were mad due to the fact that US buyers were promised Apple CarPlay and Android Auto via future software updates, but Canadians didn’t get the same treatment. Now Hyundai Canada didn’t promise this at all to Canadian customers, but likely because of the blowback from owners and perhaps my coverage of this, Hyundai Canada made good and delivered that update to Canadians for free. In short, they underpromised and over delivered.

Fast forward to this situation, it looks like to me that Hyundai Canada has done the exact opposite here. They clearly have this feature on their website. But they for whatever reason aren’t able to deliver it to Canadian consumers who buy their cars. So unless the person in that screen shot above was seriously misinformed, Hyundai Canada really has some explaining to do. Because besides the fact that any sort of “digital key” in a car is a feature that I along with many consumers would be looking for in a new car, this really has the feel of false advertising at worst. At best this is one hell of a screw up by Hyundai Canada. I’d really like to find out what Hyundai Canada has to say about this and what the actual truth is so that any potential buyer of any Hyundai vehicle knows what the deal is.. So if Hyundai Canada reads this, they can reach out to me via my about page and tell me what their side of the story is, and I will publish it as soon as I get it in my inbox.

Hyundai Canada & Kia Canada Owners…. You Can Get Updates For Your Infotainment System For FREE

Long time readers know that I have been covering Hyundai Canada’s struggles to get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to their fleet of cars. They eventually did get there in terms of newly purchased cars and the ability to upgrade some of their existing cars. And they did that for free for a while. But that program ended some time ago.

Now As of this year, numerous KIA and Hyundai models in Canada have access to map updates for free. And if you don’t presently have Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, you can get that for free as well. Here’s how you do it:

• First, you need to have a 32GB class 10 SD card handy. If you don’t have one, they’re cheap enough to source on Amazon or on B&H Photo.
• Next, surf to the Mapnsoft website and choose your brand.
• If you don’t have an account create one. Otherwise log in with your account details.
• Pick your country, model year, and model.

This will (hopefully) take you to a screen like this:

You can view the instructions in terms of updating it as well as read about the features that you can get with this update. While you can order it for $30 and have it shipped to you on an SD card (Which is way cheaper than it has been in the past). But you really want to click “download it to free” to go that route.

Now I won’t walk through the entire process to update your infotainment system as that’s very well documented. But here’s the highlights. It takes a while to do as you have to download software for your PC or Mac to download, which will in turn download the software for your infotainment system and put it on your SD card. But having done this myself, I started this at 7PM. By 7:20PM it had downloaded the update and started the process of putting out on the SD card. But by 10PM it still wasn’t done. I left it overnight and when I woke up to it having completed the process. So I don’t know how long it actually takes, but it wasn’t quick. Then you take the SD card to your car and use it to update your infotainment system. That takes about 45 minutes and you need the engine running to do it. My suggestion would be to take a drive until it is done. But this part is completely in line with other updates that I have done.

Gripes? The Mac version of this software isn’t notarized by Apple. Which means you have to hop through a few hoops to get this to run as it sets off Gatekeeper because it thinks its a virus. Mapnsoft should really fix that as those hoops won’t be able to be bypassed.

This is a very good development for Hyundai and Kia owners in Canada as those owners can keep their maps and infotainment systems up to date. If you’ve held off on updating your infotainment system, you don’t need to hold off anymore as you can update your infotainment system with your only investment being time.

Review: 2020 Hyundai Tucson Preferred – Part 4

The 2020 Hyundai Tucson Preferred is a SUV packed with healthy amount of technology in it. Let’s start with the safety aspects of the vehicle:

• Blind spot monitoring is included. Not only does it warn you when you are about to do an ill advised lane change, but it also alerts you based on distance and relative speed.
• Rear cross traffic alerts as well as rear parking sensors present to make reversing out of a parking space easier.
• One real highlight is that lane departure warning and assist functionality is included. It is one of the better systems that I have tested lately and I say that because any steering corrections that it makes are gentle and does not freak you out while doing so. Plus if it has to make an audible warning, it does so in a way that doesn’t freak out you or your passengers.
• There’s an attention assist feature which monitors your driving and will suggest that you should take a break if it thinks you are getting tired.
• You get automatic headlights so that you never forget to turn the headlights on or off.
• Cruise Control is on board. It’s a basic system where you set the speed and you have to ensure that you don’t hit anything.
• There are six airbags on board.

As for the infotainment system:

• Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are included. It gets served up on a 7″ screen which is extremely sharp, has great contrast and is viewable in all lighting conditions. The infotainment system user interface was easy to navigate and didn’t display any lag whatsoever. That was completely in line with other Hyundai products that I’ve tried recently. One other note is that I observed that info such as song names from Apple CarPlay showed up in the center TFT screen which was cool. There’s hard buttons for functions like the phone, radio, navigation etc. That also helps to make this system easy to use. One thing to note is that there’s no built in navigation system. Thus you are going to be relying on your phone to find your way around unfamiliar places.
• There’s a 6 speaker audio system that sounds good as I had no complaints when I was listening to radio or tunes from my iPhone. Though I will admit that audiophiles may want something more upscale.

One thing that I really want to point out is the quality of the camera/screen combo:

The camera/screen combo is bright with a lot of contrast. It made backing into a space really easy as you can see everything.

The final part of this review will tie up some loose ends and I’ll give you my closing thoughts on the 2020 Hyundai Tucson Preferred. Stay tuned for that tomorrow.

Review: 2020 Hyundai Tucson Preferred – Part 3

The interior of the Hyundai Tucson Preferred is functional, but modern. I’ll get to why I say that the interior is functional later, but for now let me walk through it with you.

The cloth covered drivers seat is easy to dial in to your preferred driving position. They’re also heated which is a plus.

The window and door lock switches are easy to reach. However the door is a sea of hard plastic.

One thing to point out about the doors is that they will hold a water bottle. A requirement for my wife.

You can see the switches for the various safety systems are to the left of the steering wheel. There’s also a dead pedal to allow you to rest your foot on long drives.

The leather wrapped steering wheel has all the controls for the infotainment system and the cruise control system. It’s also heated.

The gauges are clear and easy to read even in direct sunlight. There’s a TFT screen between them that will show you a variety of information such as fuel economy or how the AWD system is being used.

On the top of the dash is a 7″ LCD screen with hard buttons for all the infotainment functions. The very top of the dash is made of a soft touch material. The rest of the dash is a hard plastic.

The HVAC controls are below the screen. Below that are a pair of 12V outlets, along with an aux audio jack and a USB port. The shifter is leather wrapped. You also have cubbies in front and to the left of the shifter for items that you need to have at hand.

You also get a cubby below the shifter along with two cupholders. Plus you can see the drive mode and hill decent control button.

The cupholders pass the Starbucks venti test with ease.

Inside the arm rest is a deep storage area with a small tray that makes it easy to store small items such as loose change.

There is a lit glovebox that is decently sized. You will note a pair of clips to the right, That’s a holder for a pen.

The back seat is decently sized for two adults. Maybe three for short trips.

If you don’t need to seat three people, you can use this flip down arm rest to hold your drinks.

There’s a HVAC vent for the rear seat passengers.

Rear seat passengers get heated seats.

You get a lot of storage space in the back. 877 Liters to be precise. And if you flip down the 60/40 rear seats, you can get up to 1754 liters.If you look on the right hand seat, you’ll see a hook for a plastic grocery bag.

You can get a ton of stuff back here.

There’s a handle to help you to close the hatch so that you don’t get your hands dirty. Which is handy as the hatch is manually operated.

While I didn’t note any squeaks or rattles during my time with the Tucson, the only thing that I will note is that the winter tires on the Tucson created some road noise. But nothing that was objectionable. The other thing that I will note that there is a ton of hard plastic in this interior which may turn some off. But it really isn’t that bad as long as you keep it clean as it will show dirt rather easily.

Tomorrow I will talk about the technology in the 2020 Hyundai Tucson Preferred which has a lot going for it. Stay tuned for that.

 

Review: 2020 Hyundai Tucson Preferred – Part 2

This is the 2.0L four cylinder engine that comes as part of the Hyundai Tucson Preferred. It puts out 161 HP and 150 pound feet of torque. These numbers don’t exactly set the world on fire. But I will say that this is more than enough to power this compact SUV and do the things that you expect of it. Such as merge onto the highway, pass slower vehicles and the like. Though I will admit that you may have to occasionally push the engine more than you perhaps would want to to get the most out of it. It’s paired to a six-speed automatic and gets the power to the ground using Hyundai’s HTRAC AWD system. It snowed a couple of times during my review and it along with the winter tires really helped to keep the Tucson shiny side up.

Handling is pretty good as I was able to park it easily and make sharp turns in parking lots and the like. While more uplevel Tucsons feel more sporty than this, the target audience of this vehicle will not care. But what the target audience will care about is fuel economy. I am currently getting 9.4L/100KM’s in mixed city and highway driving. I am expecting that to go down as the week goes on.

Tomorrow I will discuss the interior which can be described as “functional” for the most part. Tune in tomorrow to find out what I mean by that.

 

Review: 2020 Hyundai Tucson Preferred – Part 1

I review a fair amount of cars on this blog. And the one comment that I occasionally get is that I don’t review enough models that people would actually buy. After all, only a handful of people buy the fully loaded models that I tend to review. Which is why this week’s review is for those who want to see a review on a model that most people will buy. Thus with that out of the way, meet the Hyundai Tucson Preferred.

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From the outside it is the same design as the 2019 Tucson Ultimate that I reviewed last year. But instead of 19″ alloy wheels, it comes with 17″ alloy wheels. But other than that, it has the look and the design language that Hyundai has been using in the Tucson for a while now. Which makes it easy to spot in a sea of SUVs.

My review of the 2020 Hyundai Tucson Preferred is made up of five parts:

• Exterior
• Engine, transmission, handling, fuel economy, and driving comfort
• Interior
• Technology in the vehicle
• Wrap up

The next part of this review will cover the engine, transmission and driving comfort. Even though this is the base model with the base model engine, it is a surprisingly good drive. Find out why I say that tomorrow.

The IT Nerd Award For The Best SUV Of 2019 Goes To: 2020 Hyundai Palisade Luxury

Hyundai has a three row crossover that is going to scare the dickens out of a lot of their competition in the form of the 2020 Hyundai Palisade Luxury.

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It brings a stout engine, some really cutting edge tech, and one of the best interiors that I have ever seen in a vehicle. On top of that, I managed to get seven adults in it comfortably and the exterior stands out from virtually everything else on the road. The kicker is that I didn’t get the top trim to review which means that there’s even more that you can pack into this vehicle, all at a max price of $53K CDN. For a company that is known for packing a lot of content into their vehicles and pricing it at a level that makes it almost irresistible, Hyundai has outdone itself with the Palisade. That makes awarding it the Best SUV of the year an easy decision.

Review: 2020 Hyundai Palisade Luxury – Part 5

So I have come to the end of my review of the 2020 Hyundai Palisade Luxury. While I did have some minor criticisms, Hyundai has absolutely nailed this three row crossover. It drives well, it handles well, it has an interior that puts luxury cars to shame. But what impressed me the most is the reaction of anyone who saw it and assumed that was the top of the line trim level, only to then find out it was the third of four trim levels, and were then shocked at the price. That highlights the fact that Hyundai has taken a lot of content and packed it into this three row crossover at a price point that will put it at the top of a lot of shopping lists.

My final fuel economy was 11.5 L/100 KM which given that it was a mix of city and highway driving is pretty impressive. Doubly so given that there’s a V6 under the hood of a big vehicle.

Back to price. The 2020 Hyundai Palisade starts at $38,499 for the base level Essential trim level and goes as high as $53,999 for the Ultimate trim with all the toys. This Luxury trim slots in at $50,199 and I suspect that this will where most of Hyundai’s sales will come from. It’s got pretty much everything that shoppers in this segment are looking for at a great price point. If you must cross shop it against other vehicles, the Mazda CX-9 is the only vehicle that comes to mind as a competitor. Specifically in the Signature trim. The thing is that Hyundai even in the Preferred trim level beats the CX-9 at a lower price point. And if you were were to go up to the Ultimate trim level which makes the two vehicles about the same money, there are features in the Palisade that make it the clear choice. On top of that, the Palisade has a V6 engine under the hood which some buyers will prefer over the turbo 4 cylinder that comes with the CX-9. Any other competitors that I can think of are in the luxury space which shows you how upscale the Palisade is.

Mark my words, you will be seeing a lot of Palisades on the road very soon. This is a great vehicle and I suspect that they won’t be on dealers lots for very long.

Review: 2020 Hyundai Palisade Luxury – Part 4

The 2020 Hyundai Palisade Luxury is a SUV packed with healthy amount of technology in it. Let’s start with the safety aspects of the vehicle:

• You get autonomous emergency braking which will bring the Palisade to a stop if it detects an object in front of it, and you take no action to avoid said object. But it will also do the same thing if you are backing out of a parking space and you don’t react to a rear cross traffic alert.
• Blind spot monitoring is included. Not only does it warn you when you are about to do an ill advised lane change, but it also alerts you based on distance and relative speed. But you get one other feature that I will get to momentarily.
• Rear cross traffic alerts as well as rear parking sensors present to make either parking or reversing out of a parking space easier. If you don’t react to an alert quick enough, the Palisade will stop itself.
• One real highlight is that lane departure warning and assist functionality is included. It is one of the better systems that I have tested lately and I say that because any steering corrections that it makes are gentle and does not freak you out while doing so. Plus if it has to make an audible warning, it does so in a way that doesn’t freak out you or your passengers.
• There’s an attention assist feature which monitors your driving and will suggest that you should take a break if it thinks you are getting tired.
• You get automatic headlights so that you never forget to turn the headlights on or off. Speaking of the headlights, they are nice, bright, white LEDs that are very easy on the eyes, and go a fair distance down the road and cover the left and right sides of the road. On a country road they are bright enough that you’ll be able to see any animals like deer and moose that may be coming from your left or right side.
• Adaptive Cruise Control with traffic stop and go is on board and I used it to make stop and go traffic situations far more bearable as it will almost stop and go on its own. The only exception is if the Palisade has been sitting stationary for a bit which requires you to tap the accelerator to get going again.

Now, the cool tech starts with this:

When you activate the turn signal, the Palisade will use the left or right side camera on the mirrors to display what is in your blind spot in the center console between the two gauges. That way you can make safer lane changes. It’s a very cool feature that will make driving safer.

The Palisade has the ability to warn those who are exiting the vehicle if there’s a potential threat from a passing car, bike or human. I tested this in downtown Toronto and it worked insanely well as it was able to even detect joggers who were running close to the Palisade. This is going to help keep people safe.

This birds eye view camera system makes parking the Palisade incredibly easy. Pair that up with the front and rear parking sensors and parallel parking is going to be a none issue.

Other tech includes:

• Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are included. It gets served up on an 10.25” screen which is extremely sharp, has great contrast and is viewable in all lighting conditions. The infotainment system user interface was easy to navigate and didn’t display any lag whatsoever. That was completely in line with other Hyundai products that I’ve tried recently. One other note is that I observed that info such as song names from Apple CarPlay showed up in the center TFT screen which was cool as not many car makers have that.
• In terms of the factory infotainment system, there’s hard buttons for functions like the phone, radio, navigation etc. That also helps to make this system easy to use. Plus the graphics have been updated and navigation through the infotainment system is quick and easy. You can also do a limited amount of tweaking to make it suit your use case.
• There’s a 630 – watt harman/kardon audio system that sounds incredibly good as I had no complaints when I was listening to radio or tunes from my iPhone. My current audio torture playlist which includes LookLA, Ruelle, Snoh Aalegra, SAHED, Astrud Gilberto, Jorja Smith, Kali Uchis, 10,000 Maniacs, Death Cab For Cutie, Chicago, Röyksopp, Sofi Tucker, Art d’Ecco and Thutmose & NoMBe sounded great. You can also serve up AM,FM, audio from your phone via USB (which will also charge your phone) or Bluetooth, or SirusXM Radio.
• This vehicle comes with Hyundai BlueLink, You can use it to remote start, cool down, heat up, or do a number of other things remotely to the Tucson using your smartphone.
• Parents will be happy to know that there’s an in-car intercom system with the ability to pipe the driver’s voice over the in-car audio system so that you can speak to your kids.
• Parents will also be happy to know that there’s a quiet mode that cuts off the audio system to the second and third rows so that your can sleep while you listen to music.
• Finally, parents will be happy to know that that the Palisade will prompt you to check for occupants or items in the rear seats which is a great safety feature.

The final part of this review will tie up some loose ends and I’ll give you my closing thoughts on the 2020 Hyundai Palisade Luxury. Stay tuned for that tomorrow.

Review: 2020 Hyundai Palisade Luxury – Part 3

The 2020 Hyundai Palisade Luxury has a very impressive interior, though there are a couple of things that I will criticize. One of them is personal preference, one is a bit of a observation that I typical don’t make about cars these days. But let’s start with the driver’s seat.

The driver’s seat is heated, ventilated, and extremely comfortable as you can adjust every aspect that matters including thigh length to give you a comfortable and perfect driving position.

The trim is impressive. There’s a mix of soft touch material, leather, and the best fake wood I have ever seen in a car. It was so convincing that I had to email Hyundai Canada to confirm that it was fake as I along with many others who saw it were not sure. Hyundai Canada confirmed that it was and it was engineered to be consistent and convincing. I’d say mission accomplished on that front as nobody who was in this vehicle could tell it was fake and everyone who was in this vehicle said it looked good.

The footwell is a comfortable place for your feet to be as it has a large dead pedal. To the left of the steering wheel are the buttons for the various electronic overseers as well as the electronic parking brake.

The steering wheel is leather wrapped, heated, and feels good in your hands. It has all the controls for the infotainment system and cruise control on the left and right sides.

Behind the steering wheel are a pair of paddle shifters.

You have a pair of easy to read analog gauges as well as a high resolution TFT display in the center. Everything was easy to read in all lighting conditions.

To the left of the steering wheel is an 10.25″ almost HD resolution infotainment screen that was very sharp and easy to read. It also integrates well with the rest of the dash which is covered in a soft touch material.

You get hard buttons for all the infotainment system. And below that are the controls for the three zone (first and second rows) HVAC system. Below that are all the controls for the transmission, drive modes, and other driving activities. Below that are the controls for the vented and heated front seats. I have to admit that I am not sold on the push button transmission as I learned to drive a manual transmission, and if you get into a dangerous situation, you could pop the transmission into neutral by hitting the shift lever toward the center. The same is true for automatic transmissions as well. That’s something that you can’t do here. Thus my natural reaction to this setup is to look at it warily. But many people think I am showing my age and that this is a non issue. And besides, many other vehicles have a system like this. Thus maybe I should introduce myself to 2020 and embrace this transmission setup as it really allows the center console to have a coherent look to it.

The area where the cup holders are is extremely versatile as you can retract the cup holders for additional space, and they can be covered for privacy reasons.

It passed my Starbucks Venti test with ease. Plus, you can see the main USB port to the left.

Below the armrest is a storage area that has a 12V outlet and another USB port.

Below the center console is a storage area with a 12V outlet and a USB port. For those keeping score at home, that’s three USB ports so far.

On the roof are the controls for the sunroof, the lights, the buttons for BluLink, as well as a flip down mirror that allow you to see what the kids are up to in the second and third rows.

There’s a decently sized glove box that’s lit.

You get a standard sized sunroof that’s powered operated, but has a manual sunshade.

The middle row can hold three adults. But the middle occupant has to deal with the hump for the driveshaft. But the two groups of adults that I had in this vehicle didn’t really complain about that too much.

If you don’t need to seat three people, you can use the middle seat for cup holders.

There are second row HVAC controls as well as a 12V outlet. Plus you have the seat warmers for the outward second row passengers. Parents will be happy to know that these controls can be locked out to keep your kids from fiddling around with them.

On each of the front seats are USB ports that are accessible by the second row passengers. That’s five USB ports and counting.

There are manual sunshades on the rear doors.

The third row actually fit adults. Two of them to be precise and they were comfortable. I can see three children fitting back here though.

On each side of the third row you have cup holders, the switch to power adjust the recline of the third row seats, you have a USB port. That’s a total of 7 USB ports for the vehicle.

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Depending on how the seats are folded, you can have a bit of cargo space with all seats up, or you can have a lot of cargo space with the second and third rows down.

And folding down the second and third row seats is easy thanks to these buttons. The second row only flips down, but the third row are both power down and up. Note the 12V outlet as well.

There’s under floor storage in the back which is handy for storing the privacy cover.

There’s both a button and a handle to allow you to close the rear hatch.

The interior very quiet for the most part. The only exception to that is an intermittent buzzing sound that my wife and I could only trace to the area of the passenger side b-pillar. We could never fully identify the exact location of the sound. Also of note, the buzz was not present (or we didn’t hear it as we weren’t paying attention) when we had passengers in the vehicle. I haven’t had to say that in a car review in years and I have to assume that it was just a potential issue with my tester. Other than that, this interior is well executed and will impress anyone who steps into it.

Tomorrow, I will look at the tech in the Palisade, and some of it is really cool. Tune in to see what the cool tech is and what I think of it.