Hyundai Rolls Out All-Electric Concept Car With Mobile Payments Included

Concept cars can be a wonderful thing. Though admittedly, the chances of you ever driving one of these or even seeing one on the roads is comparatively minimal, the notion of a concept car showing us what can be done is still a valid one. Recently, Hyundai rolled out its own concept car, the Essentia Concept, which featured not only biometric technology but also a mobile payments package built right in.

The Essentia Concept is an electric car that offers sports car styling in an eco-friendly and user-friendly package. As for the biometrics, the car has a built-in sensor—located in the “B-pillar”, the window support just behind the driver’s head—that not only offers fingerprint controls but also facial recognition systems for opening and closing doors. The car is being shown at the New York International Auto Show, which started March 30 but runs through April 8.

Clever enough, but it gets better; the car allows for full control by voice command, direct connectivity to smart devices—car, open the garage door and turn on the house lights—and of course, mobile payments systems. These are likely connected to the biometrics systems, adding that much more security; only the car’s authorized user—as measured by fingerprint, thumbprint, or facial recognition—would be able to access the payment mechanisms.

It’s a good idea, and probably the kind of thing that should be introduced more often as far as cars go. Let’s be honest here; who doesn’t like the idea of unlocking a car with a thumbprint? While facial recognition is still kind of dodgy—no one with my photograph should be able to unlock my car door—thumbprints have done reasonably well. In-car mobile payments have a great potential to work with just about anything that has a drive-thru window attached, including gas stations. The combination of the two is an excellent move.

Since it’s a concept car, we may never actually see this one come out. It’s actually a better chance that it won’t, by some reports. That we could see pieces of it, though, remains a distinct possibility that’s worth considering more closely. It’s certainly more of a concept than many, myself included, likely ever expected to see out of Hyundai.