Hyundai IONIQ 5 spotted with a new high-tech setup and large 18″ digital screen

This is car industry news, not a home energy story, but here's what's happening. A prototype of Hyundai's IONIQ 5 electric car was spotted testing in South Korea with a redesigned interior built around one large screen, either 17 or 18 inches, replacing most physical buttons. The setup uses Hyundai's new Pleos Connect software, an infotainment system built on the same base as Android Automotive, meant to work more like a smartphone with customizable apps and screens.

Hyundai is pushing this system across its Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands, aiming to put it in around 20 million vehicles by the end of the decade. It already launched on the Grandeur sedan in Korea and the IONIQ 3 in Europe. The company sees this as a first step toward what it calls a Software Defined Vehicle, or SDV, a car whose features and driving behavior can be updated and personalized through software, including future self-driving capability. Hyundai has said it plans to launch its first true SDV in 2027, and this IONIQ 5 test car, along with a similarly updated IONIQ 6 prototype spotted earlier, suggests the company's most popular electric model could be among the first to get the new system. It is not yet confirmed whether this will be a full model change or a mid-cycle update.

For homeowners, this has no direct connection to household energy upgrades or rebates. It is simply a look at where Hyundai's electric vehicle technology is headed next.