2026 52 Card Project: Week 5: Maeve

[pegkerr]

So I have recently had something non-terrible happen. I have acquired a new car, a 2023 Hyundai Tucson. This has been an extraordinary leap forward in technology for me. In fact, I have remarked that driving it after years of driving my old 2000 Toyota Camry, I feel rather like I am piloting a spaceship.

It has seat warmers! It has a video console! You can move the side mirrors in before entering the garage! It has a backup camera!

This may seem like old hat to you--to anyone who is driving anything built in the last decade--but it is entirely wondrous to me.

I name my cars in alphabetical order, boy-girl-boy-girl. My last car was named Lafayette, so this one needed to be a girl's 'M' name.

Given recent events, I decided that I needed a warrior queen's name and settled upon Maeve.

Image description: Background: deep space, seen over the surface of a planet. A black car (Hyundai Tuscon) sits on the planet surface. A sleek spaceship hovers overhead.

Maeve



Click on the links to see the 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.

Comments

[jenett]

Maeve is a great name for a car.

(and yeah, getting my new-to-me 2017 Prius last year after driving the 2007 Tucson was a revelation. Backup camera, so nice! The audio hookup just turning on when I start the car!)

[malinaldarose]

Isn't it wild making that leap? I went from a 2009 Caravan to a 2019 Caravan late last summer. No seat warmers, alas, but the video screen and the back up cameras and the power everything. (Doors! Power doors, fercryinoutloud!) Right now, in the depths of winter, I am loving the remote start.

Also, Maeve is an excellent name.

[dreamshark]

Wow, she sounds WONDERFUL!

Both our vehicles are newer than your old Toyota but both over 10 years old. So when I had to drive a rental vehicle on a recent trip... well, I know what you mean about suddenly feeling like you are piloting a spaceship. I couldn't even figure out how to start the damn thing, much less unlock the tailgate or adjust the seats. I sat in the dark rental car garage poring over the user manual by flashlight for at least half an hour before we could even move.

[longstrider]

That is *exactly* the reaction we had when getting our new 2021 Sienna (first hybrid minivan in the US!). It's like driving a spaceship.

[thomasyan]

On the contrary, car tech moves at pace that surprised my wife and me, too.

We use our cell phones and tablets for GPS. We got a special holder for it that goes into the CD player. So on a trip to Hawaii, we brought it along to use with the rental car. Ha! CD player? What's that? No such thing. I guess everything's Bluetooth streaming or USB these days.

Also, startled us the first time it happened (with that car or a loaner when repairing one of our cars). Engine goes off when the car is stopped, and then restarts. Does the 2023 Tucson do that?

[pegkerr]

It does do some inexplicable things. It has occasionally given me messages that puzzle me, including random alarms when I turn off the car. “Check back seat.” “Key is not in the car.” Say what?

I am still learning her ways.

[thomasyan]

> “Check back seat.”

Wild stab. Is the car aimed at families? Too often kids and pets have been left behind in the backseat.