Smart Park or as it went viral for “Smaht Pahk” is a bit of a confusing feature. The advertisement also wasn’t very clear on how this feature works or what trim this feature comes on. In this article, we are going to clear up some of these questions so you can decide whether or not you want this feature in your next car.
Does It Park Itself?
While the most obvious question the answer isn’t so black and white. So, this isn’t like Tesla’s smart summon feature, nor is it like Ford Co-Pilot 360 where it will parallel park for you automatically.
This feature is actually a lot simpler than that it allows you to essentially line the car up to the parking space, get out and it will drive itself into place. It will not parallel park, nor will it park on its own you need to engage it via a click of a button and the vehicle will move forward into place.
You can also control this via your keyfob by pressing forward or backward and this is basically meant for getting in and out of tight parking spaces. This was an odd inclusion Hyundai does offer perpendicular parking and a much smarter parking system on its Nexo model. But even for a sedan that tops out at around 34k, it’s still impressive tech you’re not going to find anywhere else.
TLDR: It essentially just moves forward and back out of a spot (it does use its cameras to avoid colliding with anything).
Only Available On The Limited Trim
The Limited or top of the line trim is the only level that comes with the smart park feature. Which is around $34,000 and there are not really any options to add at this trim level. I am going to say if you’re considering the 2020 Hyundai Sonata I recommend not making this feature a must. It’s really only usable for a party trick or for really tight parking spaces.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
