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2020 Hyundai Ioniq Electric reportedly getting more range

With the introduction of the Hyundai Kona Electric, Hyundai's first full EV on the market, the Ioniq Electric, has seemingly been neglected. But that doesn't seem to be the case according to Inside EVs. The news outlet spoke to someone from Hyundai who revealed that for 2020 the Ioniq Electric will get a boost in range, but it won't match the Kona Electric. For reference, the current Hyundai Ioniq Electric has a range of 124 miles, and the Kona Electric is rated at 258 miles. That leaves a lot of room for Hyundai to decide how much range the new Ioniq will have, and makes it hard to estimate what the final figure will be. It would seem a safe bet that the range will at least be 150 miles, maybe a bit more, since that would put the Ioniq Electric on par with the base Nissan Leaf for range. This is especially likely since both cars compete at the same price point of between $30,000 and $36,000 before incentives. There's a chance Hyundai could offer more range, or perhaps an optional long-range model with over 200 miles, but that might raise the price, and Hyundai will probably point buyers that need more range to the Kona anyway. We'll also be curious to see if Hyundai ups the power of the Ioniq. Its current 118 horsepower is pretty low, even in the EV segment. The standard Leaf produces 147 horsepower. Apparently the Kona Electric's 200-horsepower motor can fit in the Ioniq, as proven by the Hyundai team racing a Kona-powered Ioniq in the Optima Ultimate Street Car competition. But again, if Hyundai isn't going to give the Ioniq as much range as Kona, there's not much reason to give it a bigger motor either. Especially when the Ioniq Electric buyers probably aren't that interested in speed. Related Video:

More automakers working to turn your smartphone into a shareable digital car key

The smartphone killed the phone book, audio player, the pocket digital camera, handheld GPS devices and voice recorders. Now that addictive, transistor-filled candy bar is coming for your car keys. The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) announced that it's unveiled Digital Key Release 1.0 Specification for its member companies, which is the first step in standardizing protocols. As of now, the potential is there for drivers to download a digital key that can lock and unlock the car, start it, and transfer the key to another operator in order to share the car. The CCC's aim is to save development costs, stave off a glut of similar-yet-competing technologies, and create keys that reflect the expanded use cases for cars, i.e., car-sharing services and to-your-car delivery. Next year's Release 2.0 Specification will standardize an authentication protocol between the phone and the vehicle — how a digital key is generated on a secure server and transmitted to the car and the device — and "promise more interoperability between cars and mobile devices." The CCC says that "NFC distance bounding and a direct link to the secure element of the device" will assure security. We take that to mean the phone will need to be in direct contact with the vehicle, at least to open the door. Carmakers and suppliers have been working on digital keys for years now, and the ecosystem for individual owners to open individual cars is growing. Audi showed off its Mobile Key at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, and now calls it Audi Connect Key, but we haven't seen much of it in the field. That same year, Volvo said it expected to sell cars with digital keys only by 2017, which clearly didn't happen. Last year, the head of sales at BMW asked, "Honestly, how many people really need [keys]? They never take it out of their pocket, so why do I need to carry it around?" Even though a digital key offers an owner more convenience and long-distance control over their vehicle, car sharing is the target — and that can even include traditional rental cars. In 2013, Continental began testing a digital key in France, aimed at integrating and simplifying the electric-car-sharing business; everything from finding a free vehicle to driving it and charging it could be done on a phone. A key could be programmed with the driver's information, so that any car the driver gets in will be automatically updated with that driver's preferences, say for audio or seating position.

Hyundai releases series of KDM Genesis videos

We had plenty of nice things to say about the sleek, new Hyundai Genesis Sedan when we drove the Korean domestic market version late last month. And while we're still waiting to find out just when the new rear-driver will arrive in the US market, Hyundai's home-market operations have released a series of videos on the new sedan.
Now, unfortunately, all the videos are in Korean. While we haven't the foggiest idea of what they're actually saying, the eight videos in the series give a great look at the new Genesis Sedan in motion, as well as showing off some of the development process behind the newest member of the Hyundai family.
We've embedded all eight videos below for your viewing pleasure. Have a look below.