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2016 Hyundai Sonata PHEV will be a 50-state car, sort of

Technically, the upcoming 2016 Hyundai Sonata Plug In Hybrid will be available in all 50 states. It will just be a lot easier to get in the ten ZEV states. That's because in the 40 states that do not follow California's Zero Emission Vehicle regulations, Hyundai dealers will not be stocking the plug-in version of the Sonata when it goes on sale in the fall of 2015. In the ten ZEV states (California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont), Hyundai will stock and sell the PHEV Sonata just like any other model, with numerous colors and trim levels available on dealer lots. In the other 40 states, "we're not going to encourage dealers to stock them," because the company expects demand to be low, said Mike O'Brien, Hyundai's vice president of corporate and product planning. O'Brien was speaking at a launch event for the two new Sonatas in California this week. Hyundai has a reason for choosing the ZEV states as a starting point, O'Brien said. "The ten states are spending more money on charging infrastructure, so you can park at work, you can park while you're in the grocery store, and you can charge your car while you're doing it." In any other state, where the plug-in infrastructure is weaker, a customer can order a PHEV Sonata just as if they were going to get a specific color Veloster that the local dealer didn't have in stock, O'Brien said. "It's really no different." "If you just look at the sales, basically all our competitors, over half of their plug-in hybrid sales are right here in the state of California," O'Brien said. "Usually, much more than half. If you cover the ZEV states, you're going to cover over 85 percent of the sales already. And we're going to make sure that our dealers can accommodate and customers that wish to buy outside those states." In other ways, the PHEV buying process will be similar. The customer can choose, at time of purchase, to rely on standard 110-volt outlets or to work with the dealer to install a Level 2, 240-volt charger at their home. Hyundai will train its dealers to offer a preferred partner's charger (Hyundai would not specify which company it will be working with). With 110, an empty-to-full charge of the 9.8-kWh lithium-ion polymer battery will take around nine hours, but with Level 2 it'll be around three hours. "The essential technical elements [of the PHEV] are the same as the hybrid," O'Brien said.

11 Hyundai Genesis deliver a message to space

Hyundai is channeling a little of the style from 2001: A Space Odyssey in a heartwarming video about a young girl named Stephanie trying to get a very big message to her dad. Since he is an astronaut who orbits Earth in the International Space Station, her father isn't exactly an easy guy to get a hold of. Hyundai came to her aid with a cadre of 11 Genesis sedans driving in precise formation across a dry lakebed. In the end, the stunt also netted the automaker a Guinness World Record for the largest tire track image. It covered about 2.15 square miles and was visible to Stephanie's dad in orbit. Check out the video to see Stephanie's message and watch some precision driving from a group of Hyundais set to some classical music. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Guinness World Records, HyundaiWorldwide via YouTube Auto News Marketing/Advertising Weird Car News Hyundai Videos Sedan guiness book of world records guiness world record

Hyundai Rockar dealership concept a kinder way to buy a car [w/video]

The simple car-buying battle line these days usually centers around dealerships versus some alternative method, like online, that bypasses the dealer. A few manufacturers are trying ways in between those two poles, so that customers can visit a retail concept brick-and-mortar location but avoid the negative associations they have with dealerships; Audi's done it in London, BMW's done it in Paris and Tesla is doing it all over. After two years in development, Hyundai has done the same with its Hyundai Rockar store in the Bluewater shopping mall in Kent, England. Hyundai UK partnered with Simon Dixon on the venture, Dixon being a 20-year veteran of the car industry who was frustrated by the experience of having to buy a car at a traditional dealership. Rockar, tucked between a Disney store and a Body Shop, keeps three vehicles in the store; if you prefer, you can handle the entire car-buying transaction online at home, or at computer stations in the store with the help of "Angels," otherwise known as salespeople. Focusing on the retail experience, however, the Angels don't have car backgrounds; they've been trained in the product, but we're told they aren't there to push it on you. Car hunters who want to trade in can input their car to get fair trade value; Rockar says all of its trade-ins go straight to auction, so values are based on dealer auction guides, and every customer gets a no-haggle purchase price. There's a test-drive facility in the mall's enormous parking lot, and prospective customers can go for a spin without a salesperson. It will also attend to routine service needs: owners can book appointments, bring their car to the mall, amuse themselves for a few hours and pick it up the car it's completed. Rockar says it will do routine maintenance on any car, not just Hyundais. Echoing Audi and BMW, Hyundai UK says this isn't about replacing the dealership, but trying to find a better, easier, and less stressful way for potential customers to interact with the brand and buy a car. Bluewater gets 27 million visitors per year, and in just over a month of being open more than 4,000 of them have stopped into Rockar, with three buying a car. Rockar says it will provide free service for three years for the first 100 buyers, and Hyundai expects it to be one of its UK's top ten dealers by the end of 2015. The video has more on the concept. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.