Hyundai Motor Company has equipped the completely revamped Palisade, which it began selling this month, with new driving assistance (ADAS) warning graphics. This appears to be aimed at helping drivers use ADAS features more safely.
Hyundai hosted a media test drive event for the Palisade at Hyundai Motorstudio Goyang in Gyeonggi Province over two days, from the 21st to the 22nd. The test drive route was a round trip of 120 km from Goyang to a café in Yeongjong Island, mostly consisting of highway driving.
On the 21st, the day of the event, the particulate dust level in the metropolitan area was “very bad.” Additionally, dense fog covered Goyang in Gyeonggi Province and Yeongjong Island in Incheon, limiting visibility to just 50 meters. The Yeongjong Bridge, which had a variable speed limit, reduced its speed limit to 50 km/h due to the fog.
Before the test drive in the parking lot, I tried out the five lighting pattern functions that Hyundai directly added for the test drive event. Overall, it had a new feeling not seen in other vehicles. The lighting pattern function offers one free theme upon purchase, but to access up to five patterns, a subscription to the Bluelink Store, which will be available from next month, is required. According to Hyundai, the subscription price for lighting patterns is 3,800 won per month (38,400 won annually, or 160,000 won in a lump sum payment). It remains to be seen whether this subscription service will interest consumers.
The Palisade also has a sensor that detects the driver’s eye movements, located above the horn on the steering wheel. If the driver looks at the center fascia display direction for about three seconds, the vehicle automatically prompts a warning in the cluster (instrument panel) to focus on the road ahead.
The Palisade is the first Hyundai car to have the new ADAS warning graphics installed. If the driver does not hold the steering wheel for about 15 seconds, a primary warning with a yellow steering wheel icon appears. At this point, an animation representing the driver’s hand also appears. If the driver ignores this warning, the steering wheel icon changes to red. The head-up display will then amplify the warning to “Hold the Wheel.”
Currently, Hyundai has not announced the timeline for the implementation of highway autopilot (HDP). HDP will not be equipped in the Ioniq 9, which is scheduled for official domestic release next month. Instead, Hyundai is gradually changing its ADAS system by altering cluster graphics and introducing driver eye sensors.
The vehicle driven during the test was a 7-seater Calligraphy trim equipped with a 2.5 gasoline turbo engine, delivering a maximum output of 281 ps at 5800 RPM and a maximum torque of 43.0 kgf.m between 1700 to 4000 RPM. It has an eight-speed automatic transmission, and the test vehicle had a certified combined fuel economy of 8.2 km/liter with 21-inch wheels. The fuel tank capacity is 72 liters.
During the Palisade test drive, ADAS features were extensively used due to heavy fog and dust. The return journey from Goyang, Gyeonggi to Yeongjong Island in Incheon, a 60-km route, took 1 hour and 13 minutes, and the cluster displayed a fuel efficiency of 10.7 km/liter.
The official combined fuel economy for the Palisade 2.5 gasoline turbo hybrid, which is yet to be delivered to customers, has not been revealed. If the average fuel economy exceeds 15 km/liter during long drives, it is expected to be favored by many consumers. The 2.5 gasoline turbo model shows satisfactory acceleration ability at high speeds but higher fuel economy cannot be expected considering the body size.
The price of the Palisade 2.5 gasoline turbo 7-seater Calligraphy trim tested that day was 57.06 million won, based on an individual consumption tax of 3.5%. The footage of the vehicle test drive can be viewed on the Bloter automobile video channel ‘Kami Gyeong.’ In the video, you can see the process of the vehicle creating an acrostic poem using generative AI technology.