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Hyundai testing in-car payment system with Xevo

Hyundai is working on a proof-of-concept in-car payment system with automotive software supplier Xevo. With four initial commercial partners in Chevron, Texaco, Applebee's and ParkWhiz, a future owner could use the Hyundai Digital Wallet to buy gas or food-to-go, or reserve and pay for a parking spot without leaving the vehicle. Perhaps even more important than those three, Hyundai has trialed payments with coffee chains, too. The service would be tied to the carmaker's Blue Link app suite and would store an owner's payment details to enable transactions. The carmaker still has big questions to answer about the service, such as whether the digital wallet will be contained within the mobile Blue Link app, or be integrated into the vehicle's infotainment software. An impending pilot program will determine the best deployment, but that means implementation in consumer vehicles remains awhile away. Hyundai's announcement moves it into a space slowly gaining more entrants. Ford's FordPay, launched two years ago, contains a digital wallet used for paying for service and parking, and even for keeping up with the car note. Last year, Jaguar partnered with Shell to provide in-car payments in three Jaguar vehicles. This year, Chevrolet did the same as part of the GM Marketplace, also with Shell. Hyundai's digital wallet comes not long after the South Korean carmaker announced another infotainment-based software partner. In April, Hyundai hooked up with Verisk, a company that manages a data exchange providing driving data to insurance companies. The partnership enables a Hyundai driver to share his driving habits and be assessed a Verisk Driving Score. The score would be taken into account for usage-based insurance programs offered by companies like Allstate and Progressive. Related Video:

Hyundai Veloster N reveals menacing grille, big wing

Once again, the Hyundai Veloster N has been spotted at the 'Ring. This time, though, the car was sporting considerably less camouflage, giving us our best look yet at the first N car for the United States. The first thing most people will notice is that the top-spec Veloster will feature a massive black grille, just as the outgoing Veloster Turbo had. It does differ from the old one in that the far corners have been brought up higher and squared off to bring it inline with the new "cascade" corporate grille. The greenhouse is more visible now, too. And like the grille, it has been squared off a bit at the rear corners. It appears there's more glass, either due to the roof being raised slightly, or the window sills being dropped. The back of the Veloster N may reveal the most, though. This car gives us our first uninhibited glimpse at the rear wing, and it's a big 'un that closely hugs the bodywork on each end. The triangular shape in the middle suggests it will have a brake light similar to the i30 N. We can also finally see the taillights better. They're more horizontal than the previous car's, and they're also mounted flush to the window seam. Looking closely, we can see that they extend forward, still hugging the rear window, and the edge leads into a arching line created by the side windows. The rear glass is interesting, too, because there's just a single rear pane, rather than the old model's split glass similar to the Honda CR-X, Toyota Prius, and Hyundai Ioniq. The rear bumper also features an aggressive diffuser design in the bottom, and, as with the i30 N, there is a red accent line. We'll probably see another red line at the front. The exhaust has two outlets on each end as well, which is further indication that this is the N model and not a standard Veloster or Veloster Turbo. Since we won't be getting the i30 N in the U.S., we wouldn't be surprised if the Veloster N carried the same turbocharged four-cylinder as that car, which produces 271 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. After all, if the i30 N isn't sold here, there's no reason not to hamstring the Veloster to keep it from cannibalizing sales. Continuing on that line of thinking, it will likely use the same front-wheel-drive system with limited-slip differential and six-speed manual transmission. We also expect to see a full reveal of the Veloster line later this year.

New Hyundai Veloster N sports a big wing under its camouflage

Hyundai is deep into development of the second-gen Veloster, the follow-up to the odd asymmetric hot hatch. The first car was good, but it wasn't quite great, missing the mark on a number of details. In the intervening years, Hyundai products have improved across the board and no longer require any hedging or justification as a value proposition. Hopefully the same is true with the new car. The spy photos we have hear appear to show the Veloster N, the high performance version of the hatch. N is Hyundai's new in-house tuner. The group is working on a more powerful version of the i30, known in the US as the Elantra GT. Despite the camouflage, we can see that the Veloster in these photos has a number of upgrades that give away the N tuning. This includes large wheels, big brakes with red calipers, big exhaust outlets, and what appears to be a large Civic Type R-style wing. There are few other details we can make out, but the most obvious and notable is the asymmetric door setup. The car will have two doors on the passenger side and just one on the driver's side, just like the first model. We don't know how much power the car will make, but expect somewhere close to 250 horsepower from a turbocharged four-cylinder. Look for a full reveal sometime in the next year. Related Video: Featured Gallery Hyundai Veloster N spy shots View 16 Photos Spy Photos Hyundai Hatchback Performance hyundai veloster n