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Recharge Wrap-up: Hyundai visually explains fuel cells, BYD T5 electric truck

Are you still unclear about how exactly a hydrogen fuel cell works to power a car? Hyundai is offering a great visual on how its fuel cells operate in cars like the Tucson fuel Cell. Basically, the anode splits the hydrogen molecule into a positive and negative ion. The negative ions are used for electricity, while the positive ions are pushed through a membrane to the cathode, where both ions are combined with oxygen to create the byproduct of water. There's a little more to it than that to make it work in a vehicle, so see for yourself in the infographic below. BYD is launching its T5 electric light truck in China. The truck has a maximum speed of 31 miles per hour, making it mostly suitable for in-city and campus duty. It has a range of almost 250 miles, though, and with its size, the T5 could make a pretty adept delivery truck. The battery is situated under the load bay between the axles, keeping the center of gravity low. Price could be an issue, but government subsidies might help convince some companies to make the switch to BYD's electric truck. See more over at Car News China. The Mahindra Reva e2o electric vehicle will offer a fast charging feature, called Quick2Charge. Normally, the e2o takes five hours to fully charge, but that time gets cut to just one hour with the new option. Choosing the Quick2Charge option adds 45,000 rupees (about $735) to the price of the e2o. The new e2o is supposed to get electric power steering, and, later, a four-door variant. Mahindra Reva is also making an export-only version with Quick2Charge, longer range, electric steering, airbags, and ABS. Read more over at Indian Cars Bikes. The Quebec-Vermont Electric Charging Corridor is set to expand with 14 new charging stations. Melanie Dufresne of the area's tourism board announced that the 240-volt chargers would be installed in Le Haut-Richelieu Regional County Municipality. Drivers will use a special access card to charge at the stations in the region for $2.50. The stations will be installed by the end of the year. To see all the locations and learn more about the announcement, head over to Hybrid Cars.

Hyundai Kona joins compact-crossover fray

This week in Seoul, South Korea, Hyundai finally pulled back the covers on the all-new Kona, the automaker's first compact crossover. The Kona enters one of the hottest segments on the market and will compete straight against Honda HR-V, Toyota C-HR, and Fiat 500X. The stylish Kona slots below the larger Santa Fe and Tucson, filling out the Hyundai's crossover offerings. The new model goes on sale in Korea later this month, hitting showrooms in Europe and the US later this year. Like others in this segment, the Kona sells itself on style as well as substance. The design is more aggressive than Hyundai's other crossover offerings, though the automaker says it hints at a new direction for other products. After a few years of conservative design throughout its lineup, Hyundai has returned to the bold direction that kicked off with the sleek 2010 Sonata. The Kona's large, shield-like grille is similar to that on the new Elantra GT and refreshed Sonata. There's a wide air scoop just above the new grille. There's a lot of outside influence on the design. The rest of the body has a taut, masculine look. Big fenders and sharp creases carry on the rugged look. Hyundai is calling the black cladding "armor," though we're not sure exactly how much it protects. It's going to be a divisive design choice for sure. Like the Toyota C-HR, the Kona can be had with a contrasting roof color. The Kona makes use of LED lighting both front and rear, though the low placed headlights remind us of the controversial ones on the Jeep Cherokee. The taillights are wide, slim units that aren't like anything else in Hyundai's lineup. Like so many compact crossovers, it looks more like a high-riding hatchback than a shrunken SUV. It's a handsome design though that's more tough than cute. The interior has been designed with efficiency first. Hyundai boasts that the Kona has the best-in-class interior space. The simple layout is far more conservative than the exterior, but it appears well designed and well arranged. Like the Elantra GT, the infotainment screen sits above the dash like a tablet. It's a common design feature, though not always a popular one. The Kona can be had with a 5, 7, or 8-inch infotainment display, though availability depends on the market. Higher-spec models come with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, HD and satellite radio, a rearview camera, and in the US, 4G telematics. The Kona will have wireless smartphone charging.

Aurora's Chris Urmson on autonomy — that's one way to avoid speeding tickets

Although this year's CES was full of companies announcing and exhibiting their real and conceivable self-driving car technologies, while actual self-driving cars from Aptiv-Lyft were giving conventioneers 400 rides around town, the biggest news came when Volkswagen Group — and recognize this is the entire group, not just the brand — and Hyundai announced that they'd both partnered with Aurora Innovation. While the VW announcement was vague — "The collaboration brings the two companies together to realize self-driving electric vehicles in cities as Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) fleets" — Hyundai provided a concrete goal: "a strategic partnership to bring self-driving Hyundai vehicles to market by 2021." You may not have heard of Aurora, which has been described in some news accounts as "mysterious." But Aurora Innovation has been in business since December 2016, and it is to autonomous technology what the 1927 Yankees are to baseball. The three leaders of the company are Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO, who had previously been chief technology officer for Alphabet Self-Driving Cars; Sterling Anderson, co-founder and chief product officer, who had directed the development of Tesla Autopilot; and Drew Bagnell, co-founder and chief technical officer, who had been autonomy architect and perception lead at the Uber Advanced Technology Center. We had the chance to sit down with Chris Urmson after he appeared onstage at a Hyundai press conference. He shared his insights on Aurora's approach to automated driving. Initial deployment of self-driving cars? "We think the first place this technology comes to market in in the transportation services or ride-hailing applications, but that's for our partners to decide." (Ride-sharing is a strategy a lot of players in the field are shooting for, as round-the-clock use is one way for paying for what will initially be a technology too costly for private ownership.) Transporting goods or people? "I personally — and as a company — am more excited initially about moving people around. Urban mobility. That's where you see the largest social impact. And it provides better access to mobility for people." Can you create a car that doesn't crash? "It is a fundamentally hard problem because other operators on the road can behave erratically at any moment. For example, if you are in a two-lane, opposing-traffic road, if you want to be safe, you don't drive there, ever.