Hyundai Pairs Better Blue Link With Google Assistant

CARS.COM — Hyundai wants you to better connect with your car, especially when you’re not actually driving it. Today at the 2017 New York International Auto Show, the South Korean automaker announced its Blue Link connectivity app is now compatible with Google Assistant, part of Google Home’s voice-activated speaker.

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Further sweetening the technology pot, so to speak, is news that Hyundai will offer its updated Blue Link services free for three years. The feature will be available on all model-year 2018 Hyundai cars and trucks, along with the entire 2017 Ioniq lineup of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Once the Hyundai and Google systems are paired, voice commands allow the user to remotely lock or unlock their vehicle, send navigation commands or start the engine and adjust temperature settings. To ensure not just anyone can start talking to Google Assistant and remote start your new Hyundai, a PIN must be entered after a spoken command is made.

Among a robust suite of features, the updated Blue Link system includes vehicle diagnostic reports, maintenance updates, roadside assistance, collision notifications and emergency services, along with alerts to find your Hyundai in a crowded parking lot (or in the unfortunate event it’s stolen). In total, Blue Link offers 25 functions, spread out across three categories: the Connected Care Package, Guidance Package and Remote Package.

Hyundai buyers also receive three years of free updates to their car’s SD-based navigation system via the MyHyundai website. This helps avoid the inconvenience of outdated maps and incorrect directions — a bugbear of many navigation systems that can’t keep pace with road construction schedules.

In case your smartwatch or mobile phone are out of charge, Blue Link commands can be summoned at the push of a blue button on the rearview mirror or on the car’s center console. Additionally, Blue Link is compatible with Amazon Alexa, the voice-activated service that is part of the Amazon Echo smart-speaker.

As far as convenience-oriented features go, Hyundai says remote start is by far Blue Link’s most popular service. Owners request more than 1 million remote starts a month during the winter and more than 1 million remote locks a year, the automaker stated.