Samsung Electronics announced that it is collaborating with Hyundai Motor Group to expand its SmartThings platform to support connected cars, including electric vehicles. The announcement was made following the companies' goodwill agreement signed on January 3 to develop solutions for the lifestyle of the future by fully integrating smart homes and connected cars. Although there is no official statement regarding which countries this service will be available in, it is expected that smart home and automobile integration will increase in the coming days.
Hyundai and Kia will join forces with Samsung's SmartThings platform to develop an integrated home energy management system and innovative smart home technologies. This partnership is designed to cover both companies' 'Home to Car' and 'Car to Home' services and will integrate a range of connected vehicle technologies, including electric vehicles.
Home to Car and Car to Home services connect smart home and in-car infotainment systems, providing remote control in both directions.
Users will be able to perform various operations related to their cars while at home through the SmartThings platform. These operations include starting the vehicle, controlling the smart air conditioner, opening and closing the windows and checking the charge levels. It will also be possible to control home appliances such as TV, air conditioner and electric vehicle chargers from inside the vehicle. Users will be able to manage their routines such as “starting the day” and “coming home” through SmartThings by operating multiple devices simultaneously, including their vehicles. For example, when a Galaxy smartphone's morning alarm goes off, curtains, lights, and television can be turned on automatically. When users leave home to go to work, their vehicles will adjust themselves to the ideal temperature. In addition, users will be able to view information such as the remaining battery power level and driving range of their electric vehicles on their smartphones and TV screens.
Thanks to the integrated home energy management service, users will be able to track how much energy the connected devices in their homes consume. Users will be able to view the energy information of their electric vehicles and chargers, so they can charge their vehicles at the most appropriate time. Electric vehicles connected to the integrated home energy management service will be able to calculate different pricing information according to different times of the day, power demand response (DR) program, photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage system (ESS) data and carbon emissions over time, and automatically determine the optimal time for charging. You will have the opportunity to set the .
Samsung continues to work closely with HARMAN, a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, to further enrich its Car-to-Home service. With "Ready Upgrade", HARMAN's digital cockpit package that allows hardware and software upgrades, users will be able to install many SmartThings features to benefit from various Car-to-Home services.