Replacing lighter sockets with USB ports

The South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai has said that it will replace cigarette lighter sockets with USB power points in its passenger cars made for the domestic market, according to a story for the U.K.’s Electronic Telegraph.

Hyundai said the change would affect all passenger cars and SUVs sold in Korea from October.

Hyundai’s decision follows a domestic survey that showed many drivers used the lighter jack to charge mobile phones or tablet computers rather than for lighting cigarettes.

A spokesman said that Hyundai was “the first auto company in the world” to make the change, and that the company would survey consumers in other countries to see whether it should be adopted elsewhere.

Hyundai might well be the first car company to swap from cigarette lighters to USB ports, but it is not the first to remove cigarette lighters.