Hyundai and Uber Carshare

In July 2018, Uber Carshare entered into a partnership with Hyundai to bring sharing-ready cars to Australia and increase the number of hybrid and electric vehicles in the Uber Carshare community. Over the past eight months, we’ve been working closely with Hyundai to integrate their latest technology with our platform, to improve the experience for Borrowers and make it even easier for Hyundai owners to list their cars.

Ioniq hybrids on Uber Carshare

In the first stage of our partnership, 16 new Hyundai Ioniqs were listed on Uber Carshare. These planet-friendly hybrids combine a petrol engine with an electric motor to reduce emissions and maximise fuel efficiency. The demand for these cars was high, and we plan to list more eco-friendly cars on Uber Carshare in the near future.

From Hyundai Australia

Integrating AutoLink remote controls

The addition of the Hyundai Ioniqs to our fleet allowed us to integrate Hyundai’s AutoLink technology with our car-sharing platform. The AutoLink app allows owners of some Hyundai models to manage their cars remotely. The app tracks vehicle stats like fuel consumption, trip distances, tyre pressure, battery status and refuelling history, and provides remote controls to lock and unlock doors and start the engine from within the app.

We collaborated with Hyundai’s engineers to integrate these features into our platform. Borrowers of certain Hyundai cars can now use AutoLink functions through the Uber Carshare app to lock and unlock the cars, and we plan to set up more compatible cars with this functionality. This will make getting into the car and on the road much easier, as there’s no need to generate a lockbox code to access the keys. We’ve also started using the vehicle status features to track trip distance, monitor driving behaviour, and perform remote health checks.

Creating ‘sharing-ready’ cars

Technology like Hyundai’s AutoLink paves the way for the creation of ‘sharing-ready’ cars in Australia. Having cars manufactured with remote controls and vehicle status checks eliminates the need for us to install our in-car technology and makes it possible for an owner to list their car on Uber Carshare with just a few taps of a screen.

Currently, to get cars set up for sharing we install three pieces of technology: a secure electronic lockbox so borrowers can access the keys, a GPS device to measure how far they drive, and a toll device to bill the right person for tolls. The AutoLink technology provides all this functionality pre-installed in new Hyundai cars. Once we’ve fully integrated AutoLink features into the Uber Carshare platform, the owner of a new Hyundai will be able to list their car and make it available for Borrowers in just a few minutes.

We have more exciting developments planned as we continue our collaboration with Hyundai throughout 2019 and beyond:

• Make it easy for Hyundai owners to learn about Uber Carshare and list their car instantly through the AutoLink app
• Detect compatible Hyundai cars as owners apply to list their cars for sharing and prompt them to use the AutoLink app for a quicker set-up process
• Allow Hyundai owners to block out their car and see current and upcoming bookings from within the AutoLink app

We’re excited to be working with Hyundai in this world-first technical collaboration to improve access to sustainable transport in Australia. Our partnership is allowing more people to make the most of their car and choose low-emission driving.

You might also like