Smart tech for Hyundai’s luxury flagship

The most posh model offered by a growing brand has been updated with features that make prestige models look like a waste of cash.

2022 Hyundai Palisade Highlander

Hyundai’s smartest car will call an ambulance following a crash, remind you to lock it’s doors if you’ve forgotten, allow you to open windows or adjust climate control using voice commands, and track the car’s speed and whereabouts when you loan it to friends of family.

The new-look Palisade Highlander has a butch-looking grille.

The new Hyundai Palisade is the first car in Hyundai showrooms with high-tech “Bluelink” features and a smartphone app that bring it closer to tech leaders such as BMW and Tesla.

Other changes in the updated Palisade include a raft of safety equipment such as an airbag positioned between the driver and passenger.

The Palisade Highlander has multi-spoke 20-inch wheels.

Reverse auto braking is now part of the deal, as is a back-to-base “SOS” function that automatically calls for assistance following a crash.

A 12.3-inch digital dash joins a similarly large central infotainment screen, along with a digital centre mirror that offers an unobstructed view of the road behind you when the cabin is packed with people or cargo.

Huge display screens are part of the package.

On sale from $65,900 plus on-road costs, the standard Palisade has Apple CarPlay and Android auto, a 12-speaker stereo, a powered tailgate, sunroof and much more.

Premium Highlander variants priced $10,000 upstream are loaded with heated and cooled electrically adjustable leather seats with memory settings, a heated steering wheel, 360-degree camera, 20-inch alloys and an additional rear sunroof.

Hyundai’s Bluelink app debuts in the Palisade.

Butch exterior changes on both variants include vertically staked LED lights, new wheels and squared-off exhaust outlets.

Customers can choose between a 3.8-litre V6 that uses an eye-watering 10.7L/100km of petrol to make 217kW and 355Nm, or a thriftier 2.2-litre turbo diesel that needs 7.3L/100km to produce 147kW and 440Nm.

Both engines are paired with eight-speed automatic transmissions, but only the diesel has all-wheel-drive (the V6 powers the front wheels), which accounts for a $4000 price premium separating the pair.

Originally published as Smart tech for Hyundai’s luxury flagship