hyundai – Impact Lab

Automobiles, Energy, Global Warming, Green Friendly, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Hyundai delivers first fuel cell trucks to Switzerland

October 14, 2020

LUCERNE, Switzerland (Reuters) – South Korean carmaker Hyundai on Wednesday presented the first seven hydrogen-powered trucks to customers in Switzerland, out of 50 such vehicles scheduled this year to bring zero-emission commercial vehicles to European roads.

For long haul, proponents say hydrogen-powered trucks have an advantage over electric rivals as they have a greater range and require less charging times but their uptake and mass production has been slow because they are expensive.

However, a McKinsey study in January said that once relative efficiencies of the power sources and lifetime costs of a truck are factored in, green hydrogen could reach cost parity with diesel by 2030.

Hyundai has been partnering with Swiss companies to build a value chain covering the production of green hydrogen from hydropower, hydrogen charging stations and the service and maintenance of the trucks.

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Alternative Transportation, Automobiles, cutting edge, Science & Technology News

Hyundai creates division for walking robots and Transformer-like mobility vehicles

October 10, 2020

The Korean automaker will dip its toes in the field of freaky-looking robots.

Remember the Hyundai Elevate concept from CES 2019? Probably not because so much happens at CES, it’s hard to keep track of the real breakthroughs, worthy attention-grabbers and the fluff. Well, we should definitely pay a little more attention to Hyundai and its Elevate concept because the Korean automaker announced a new division on Tuesday devoted to “ultimate mobility vehicles.”

If the Elevate concept defines what an “ultimate mobility vehicle” is, that means Hyundai just created a studio to design walking cars. They’re sort of freaky, honestly. The New Horizons Studio, as it’s called, will develop vehicles “to wander with unprecedented mobility,” the automaker said in the announcement. “Wander” is an appropriate word since the Elevate concept sports long legs that let the vehicle “walk” over what would typically be terrain a standard vehicle would never get past. Specifically, Hyundai imagined the Elevate as a perfect rescue vehicle to step over rocks, rubble and other debris with ease.

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Aviation, CES 2020, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Hyundai unveils new Uber air taxi design

January 9, 2020

Hyundai and Uber team on the S-A1 at CES 2020

Hyundai has used the grand platform of CES 2020 to unveil its take on the future of urban mobility. At the heart of its plans is its S-A1, an electric flying taxi developed with Uber. A concept at this stage, the S-A1 is a four-passenger electric aircraft designed for short urban journeys made possible by helicopter-style vertical take-off and landing.

In the S-A1, Hyundai has become the first partner of Uber Elevate, Uber’s grand plan for transforming urban transportation by taking its ride-sharing business model to the sky. Hyundai’s S-A1 design builds on the design concepts established and shared by Uber Elevate in an attempt to help manufacturers stake a claim in the embryonic air taxi market. The S-A1 also constitutes the first fruit of Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility (UAM) division. (Though confusingly, Hyundai also refers to its air taxis as UAM.)

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Automation, Automobiles, Driverless cars, Science & Technology News

Hyundai to start mass production of driverless cars in 2024

October 22, 2019

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Group will start mass production of self-driving cars within the next five years, said Chung Euisun, the heir to the auto giant, as he made a hefty investment in a joint venture the company established with Aptiv on Sept. 23.

At a luncheon session held in New York with Korean correspondents on the same day he signed the $4 billion deal with the US software developer, Chung said the company would apply the autonomous driving technology to be developed jointly with Aptiv to Hyundai cars starting in 2024. The executive vice chairman, who holds the second-highest position in the carmaker — his father, Chairman Chung Mong-koo, is No. 1 — said the company had decided to hold the same number of shares as Aptiv, rather than be a minority shareholder in the venture, in an effort to transform itself from a mere car manufacturer into a future mobility solutions provider.

“We expect the era of autonomous vehicles to come early, but it will be possible for customers to go anywhere they want in a driverless car after 2030,” said Chung, who has taken the lead in the absence of his ill father.

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Automation, Automobiles, Electric Vehicles

Hyundai and Kia unveil driverless car-charging and parking concept

January 28, 2019

The companies intend to launch this technology when electric vehicles reach level 4 autonomy, which is expected around 2025. — Hyundai

This week Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation shared a video outlining the features of EV wireless charging and automated valet parking concept systems that could park your car without you or any other driver.

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Automobiles, cutting edge, Transportation

Hyundai’s four-legged car isn’t the future we imagined, but we’ll take it

January 24, 2019

It’s clear at this point that the future of the automotive world revolves around bleeding edge technology that’s self-driving or, perhaps, even flying. But what if it’s none of those things? What if it’s a car that walks on four legs?

Hyundai puzzled CES audiences the world over at this year’s event with a concept that focused on exactly this. It’s on-trend, with an electric power plant. But unlike the Tesla’s of the world, Hyundai’s “Elevate” concept ditches the wheels in favor of four legs capable of navigating nearly any type of terrain.

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Alternative Transportation, Science & Technology News

Hyundai’s vision of personal transportation for the future

April 4, 2013

Hyundai’s E4U personal mobility vehicle

At the Seoul Motor Show this year, Hyundai, the Korean automaker, unveiled the E4U. The E4U is a personal mobility vehicle that moves around using a rotating semisphere instead of wheels.

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