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Hyundai, Kia and U of M studying 'highway hypnosis'

Next up on the hot-button list of things that can kill you behind the wheel: "highway hypnosis." That's the zombie-like, autopilot phase you get into on a long highway drive when there isn't much to distract you, like curves or traffic. Digging further into what it is and how to combat it, Hyundai-Kia engineers and the University of Michigan are commencing a study that will measure brainwave activity in order to track the body's slide into highway hypnosis.
We're not sure how much overlap this has with Mercedes-Benz's Attention Assist, which tracks more than 70 in-car parameters to determine when you're not focused on the road anymore. That system is billed as an alarm against fatigue, in our experience it does more than that - if you use your phone while driving, for instance, it will chirp.
They don't know what form a warning system will take yet, but Hyundai-Kia plans to develop a method for warning drivers when they being to zone out. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were more than three thousand deaths and nearly 400,000 injuries due to distracted driving in 2011.

Hyundai Kia asked to pay $28.9M in patent infringement case

After years of litigation, Hyundai and Kia have lost their hybrid technology patent infringement case against Paice LLC. The jury ordered the South Korean automakers to pay $28.9 million, but according to Bloomberg, because the violation was allegedly intentional, the judge could triple that amount. The automakers have announced plans to appeal the ruling. Paice's patent dates from 1994 on a piece of tech called the Hyperdrive, and it was a way to seamlessly switch between power from an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. This lawsuit was first filed in 2012 and covered the systems in the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and Kia Optima Hybrid. According to Bloomberg, the companies tried to argue that the patent was no longer valid, but the strategy failed. "Hyundai strongly believes its position and will appeal any remaining adverse findings to the Federal Circuit," the company said in a statement to Autoblog. Paice is certainly no stranger to litigating over the Hyperdrive patent, though. It and Toyota had a similar court battle that lasted years. Eventually, there was a settlement, and the result was Paice getting royalties for each hybrid that the Japanese automaker sold. Similarly, there's a lawsuit pending against Ford over tech in the C-Max, Fusion, and Lincoln MKZ. Hyundai Statement: Hyundai believes that the verdict returned by the jury today in the matter of Paice v. Hyundai Motor Company et al., is not supported by the evidence. Accordingly, Hyundai has requested that the presiding judge enter a judgment in its favor notwithstanding the verdict. Hyundai strongly believes its position and will appeal any remaining adverse findings to the Federal Circuit.

Hyundai opens up European Test Centre at N"urburgring

Anyone who's anyone among automakers tests at the Nürburgring, and the latest to join them is Hyundai. After fifteen months of construction and a €6.6-million investment - just shy of $9M USD - the Korean automaker has finally completed its new trackside testing center that was initially announced back in January.
Hyundai's new European Test Centre encompasses nearly 40,000 square feet of floor space on four levels in a glass and steel building that houses workshops, offices and hospitality areas. Acting as an extension of the company's European R&D center in Rüsselsheim, Germany, the new Nürburgring test center will allow Hyundai to conduct more regular and rigorous testing around the 73 corners and 13 miles of tarmac that make up the famous racetrack - definitely a good thing for a powerhouse brand that still sometimes fumbles when it comes to the dark arts of suspension and steering tuning.