Hyundai Elevate Reveals Walking Car Concept

RMN Digital | January 12, 2019 | Feature, Lifestyle, Masses | No Comments

Alistair Weaver of Edmunds presents John Suh, Hyundai vice president and head of Hyundai CRADLE the 2019 Edmunds CES Tech Driven Award.

The Hyundai Elevate concept won an award at the second annual Edmunds 2019 CES Tech Driven Awards. The award honors the most forward thinking automotive technologies announced at the show.

Edmunds presented the award for the Hyundai Elevate – the first Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV), blending technology found in electric cars and robots, which allows it to traverse terrain beyond the limitations of even the most capable off-road vehicle.

“Elevate provides a solution not only for first responders in a wide range of emergency rescue scenarios, but also for anyone facing accessibility challenges,” said John Suh, Hyundai vice president and head of Hyundai CRADLE. “We are honored to be recognized with an Edmunds CES Tech Driven Award and are excited to continue introducing technology that has the potential to expand and redefine mobility.”

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The Elevate concept takes aim at the need for efficient, rapid, resilient transportation for disaster assistance, and is based on a modular EV platform with the capability to switch out different bodies for specific situations.

The robotic leg architecture has five degrees of freedom plus wheel hub propulsion motors and is enabled by the latest in electric actuator technology.

The legs also fold up into a stowed drive-mode, allowing Elevate to drive at highway speeds just like any other vehicle, but – according to Hyundai – no other vehicle can climb a five foot wall, step over a five foot gap, walk over diverse terrain, and achieve a 15 foot wide track width, all while keeping its body and passengers completely level.

Further, according to Hyundai, the combination of wheeled motion with articulating legs provides a new paradigm of mobility by enabling faster walking speeds, unique dynamic driving postures and torsional control at the end of each leg.