The Elevate will be one of the weirdest sights at CES.
Is a vehicle that can walk still a car? Hyundai will answer this odd question at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show
on January 7 by unveiling the Elevate concept. Like a traditional
automobile, it'll have four wheels, but the weird machine will also be
able to walk on long appendages that will allow for getting around in
extremely treacherous terrain.
Hyundai is only releasing a single computer rendering of the
Elevate for now but intends to show a full prototype at CES. The
vehicle features a relatively skinny body with enough room for loading a
stretcher inside. There also appears to be a hatch in the side that
might offer an alternate way into the cabin, since there are no visible
doors. The wheels mount to extendable legs that allow for a significant
increase in ride height for overcoming obstacles. The tires don't appear
to have much tread, which raises the question of how much traction the
Elevate would have off-road.
The company claims the machine is
capable of driving, walking, and even climbing through the help of
robotics. We hope the automaker shows off how a person controls the rig
because maneuvering the four legs and making the switch from steering
the wheels into making them feet seems like a very complicated process.
Hyundai
says the Elevate establishes a new vehicle category that the company
calls an Ultimate Mobility Vehicle or UMV. We are curious to find out
whether the automaker actually intends to put an all-terrain machine
like this into production or if the firm is just hoping to grab
attention at a crowded CES by debuting something very weird.
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