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Hyundai announces pricing for Ioniq Electric subscription service

When we first drove the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, we learned about a unique subscription program that would be available for Hyundai Ioniq Electric buyers in California. Instead of a traditional purchase or lease, it would be a no-haggle program with unlimited mileage and service and wear items covered. At the time, though, Hyundai didn't have pricing set for the program. Now it does. It also has a name. It's called Ioniq Unlimited+. The way it works is that after a consumer has their credit approved, they put down an initial $2,500 payment, and then pay a set monthly fee for the 36-month term. Pricing varies depending on the trim level of Ioniq Electric. The base model has a monthly fee of $275, the Limited goes for $305, and the Limited with the "Ultimate" package costs $365 per month. All of those prices are before tax. The advantages to this program over a typical lease are in all the included goodies. The initial tax, title, license and fees are covered with the down payment, drivers have no mileage caps, and charging, service, and wear items are all covered for 50,000 miles. If you're interested, hopefully you live in California, since that's the only state in which the program is offered. But, if the program is successful, there may be a chance it expands to other models and regions. Related Video:

Ex-Hyundai CEO Krafcik joins TrueCar board amidst IPO plans

Former Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik has had a tumultuous year. Last June, he won the Automotive Executive of the Year from DNV Business Assurance. Then in December, he suddenly announced he was stepping down from his leadership role at the Korean automaker on January 1, with some suggesting it was because the company's sales growth was too far below forecasts. Now, it looks like the exec has landed a new role on the board of directors of online car shopping website TrueCar.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Krafcik's role will be to build relationships with automakers and dealers, but the job at TrueCar won't be full time. Since leaving Hyundai, Krafcik has also been doing consulting work in Silicon Valley. "It's helped me understand what I might want to do, full, full time. I am just taking things at the appropriate pace," he said to the Journal.
Krafcik, who is widely considered one of the industry's top executives, took the helm at Hyundai America in 2008 and led it to an increase in sales and market share. He was with the company when it won North American Car of the Year awards in 2009 and 2012 for the Genesis and Elantra, respectively.

Go fetch yourself: Hyundai Le Fil Rouge shows off self-parking and wireless charging

With the impending onset of autonomous technology, future cars will not only be able to drive people to their destinations without assistance, they'll also be able to perform tasks without humans in them at all. Hyundai and Kia, among other companies, see this as an opportunity to solve small infrastructure problems and quell inconveniences. In particular, the Hyundai group envisions an electric car that can park and charge itself using wireless induction technology. Using the Le Fil Rouge concept car as the subject, Hyundai released a video that demonstrates how this idea could potentially work. Assume that autonomous cars will be interlinked through a network. In this video, a parking garage and the owner of the network also have access and connectivity to that theoretical system. After the driver gets out of the car at her destination, she uses an app on her smartphone to instruct the car to go to the nearest available charging station. The car then drives to a paired parking garage, sans humans, and parks itself in an available spot with a wireless charging pad. Using magnetic induction, the car refills on energy. When the charge is complete, it then moves itself to a different normal parking spot using the so-called Automated Valet Parking System (AVPS) until the owner is ready for the car. When the owner summons the car using the app, the Le Fil Rouge, now shown in the video as ready with 341 miles of range, wakes itself up and drives back to the owner. Although this is a concept for now, Hyundai and Kia believe it could become a reality within the decade. They are considering commercializing such technology with their Level 4 autonomous vehicles, which are expected to launch about 2025. The ultimate goal of launching fully autonomous rides is set for 2030. The idea of self-parking is something several manufacturers are already working on. Tesla has its summon feature, NIssan is exploring the idea with its Pro Pilot program, and Volkswagen plans to unveil its own version in 2020. At this point, both wireless charging and self-parking features seem inevitable. Hyundai Le Fil Rouge Self-Parking View 5 Photos Related Video: