The Hyundai Tiger is a new extreme terrain concept car created as a follow-up to the elevate concept revealed by the company at CES 2019. like the Elevante, the Tiger is defined by its use of sophisticated leg and wheel axles that enable it to tackle the most hostile environments.
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The first prototype of the car is called Tiger X-1 (Experimental 1), and has been developed by a special wing of the Hyundai R&D team called new Horizons Studio, deploying cutting edge carbon composite printing techniques.
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Unlike the Elevate, the new Tiger concept has been visualized as an supreme Mobility car (UMV) capable of operating and exploring completely autonomously. Remote human operation and observation is enabled through a sophisticated range of sensors and 360-degree directional controls.
It’s built on a ‘modular platform’, though Hyundai does not go into any even more detail. Instead, the company highlights the large loading area for transporting goods and aid packages. The articulation of the legs implies that it can climb and descend incredibly challenging landscapes while keeping its body and payload area practically completely flat. but it has been developed to operate through wheel movement as much as possible for the sake of efficiency with the legs only coming into play to tackle major obstacles.
Should the Tiger arrive at an insurmountable object or patch of terrain, it can call upon and dock with an unmanned aerial car (UAV). The UAV can deliver the Tiger to the inaccessible spot while recharging the vehicle’s battery on the way.
As well as providing up support and aid delivery in remote locations, Hyundai sees the potential for cars like the Tiger to be deployed in disaster zones as a first responder, and even adapted for use in Moon and Mars landings.
The Tiger X-1 is unlikely to make the transition to reality anytime soon. However, Hyundai and Kia have revealed plans to develop and produce purpose built electric cars from 2022 onwards – highly specialised EVs developed for particular purposes and jobs, using a scalable all-electric platform.
Take a look at Toyota’s moon buggy concept…