Hyundai Australia is well aware the Intelligent Speed Limit Assist chimes in its new vehicles are frustrating and it’s working hard to get changes made.
Over the last few years new and updated Hyundai, Genesis and Kia models have been adopting Intelligent Speed Limit Assist, a safety feature that’s intended to let the driver know when they’re travelling faster than the posted speed limit.
Cars equipped with Hyundai’s Intelligent Speed Limit Assist play a single chime when a new posted speed limit is detected, and then play another chime when a driver travels at least 2km/h over this limit.
The latest Hyundai vehicle to receive this feature in Australia is the updated i30 Sedan. It’s now standard across the entire range, including the newly introduced hybrid and high-performance N variants.
i30 Sedan
Speaking with CarExpert, Hyundai Australia general manager of corporate affairs Bill Thomas admitted he’s “not a huge fan” of the safety feature, yet fixing it “is not actually that clear cut”.
“We’ve been in touch with R&D, we’re pushing hard to make some adjustments to the system,”said Hyundai Australia product planning and development manager Tim Rodgers.
“[The i30 Sedan] already has some adjustments, which you may notice, as well as some subtle changes in volume and how it activates.
“It’s been a constant dialogue with R&D and we’re working on it.
Palisade
“We though it was the end of the world too but actually when we go out and listen to customers it’s not all negative feedback.”
When asked about the changes Hyundai Australia is asking for, Mr Thomas said “we’re asking for a few things but we won’t go into the details”.
“We’re finding [Hyundai] is quite open to change from this point, but it will be gradual and we can’t really confirm those changes,” added Mr Thomas.
This type of safety feature, more widely referred to as intelligent speed assistance (ISA), became mandatory on all newly introduced cars in Europe in 2022.
Sonata
While the system became mandatory in the EU for newly introduced cars in 2022, all new car regardless of when they first launched in that region will need them by July 2024.
Intelligent speed assistance isn’t mandatory in Australia as of yet, and yet the i30 Sedan – which isn’t sold in Europe – includes this feature.
In response to this, Mr Rodgers said the regulation pathway Hyundai R&D takes when developing a car for Australia to first “take it as a European ECE[-compliant] car and then turn into an ADR-compliant car”.
“So actually, if you look at the headlights [of the i30 Sedan], it has ECE written on it,” said Mr Rodgers.
“So even though [the i30 Sedan] is not a European-compliant, European-sold car, that’s just the development pathway that we take to make it an Australian car.
“That’s part of the discussion we’re having with our needs. How can we change some of that relationship? Can we find an efficiency by doing an Australian-market car?
“It’s difficult, because again, right-hand in the UK and there’s not very many right-hand drive markets.”
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