Hyundai Elevate walking car concept
We’re mere days into 2019, and Hyundai may easily take the cake for wildest concept car of the year. The South Korean automaker teased the Hyundai Elevate walking car concept that it will unveil at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show next week.
The concept will combine the power of an electric car and the capability of robotics to rethink where cars can travel, according to Hyundai’s announcement on Wednesday. With long robotic legs with small wheels to travel across various types of terrain, the machine looks like it would be right at home in a “Star Wars” film. We see in the teaser image the Elevate is outfitted as a search and rescue vehicle of sorts as the tiny wheels climb over rubble and bricks. Surely, Hyundai has other ideas for its four-legged walking car concept, too.
Hyundai isn’t the first to toy with the idea of robotic and autonomous vehicles as workhorses. Last month, Honda showed off the Autonomous Work Vehicle prototype, which will also make its debut at the 2019 CES. The prototype builds off the 3E-D198 autonomous ATV concept shown at last year’s show and begins life as one of the company’s regular ATV models. Honda imagines the vehicle could help first responders, search and rescue teams, or firefighters carry equipment.
Yet, Hyundai’s concept is far more outlandish in nature than a self-driving ATV of sorts. The South Korean company plans to show off the design concept and a prototype of the walking car at its press conference on Jan. 7. CES then opens to the public on Jan. 8 and runs through Jan. 11.
