At the IAA Frankfurt, Hyundai motor unwrapped its new concept EV called the 45. The car is a re-imagination of company’s 45 year old Pony Coupe Concept. The number 45 also denotes the 45 degree rakes at the front and rear of the car. The Hyundai 45 has been designed as a minimalist vehicle with an inclined character line splitting the side of the car diagonally. It sits high on large wheels giving it the oh-so-loved SUVish shape.

The car has short overhangs to provide for a large interior which is designed around the car as a living space rather than a driver oriented arrangement. This has been done in deference to the autonomous technology which is expected to do the driving in the future. The batteries have been placed under the floor-pan giving a wide and flat cabin. It has front seats which can be rotated 180 degrees to enjoy the journey in the company of family and friends when the autonomous mode kicks in. The interiors have been provided with comfortable lounge seats and the cabin is trimmed in swathes of leather, wood and leather. The glasshouse has been designed to provide sufficient natural lighting inside. The car re-imagines storage space in a range of novel ways, including refining the concept of door-mounted device pockets by introducing a horizontally elongated shape that allows books or tablet PCs to be stored. Furthermore, the storage space uses a transparent material, so it is easy to see the content.

45 also highlights future technological developments that may influence forthcoming Hyundai models, such as a hidden Camera Monitoring System (CMS) that is equipped in the vehicle, leaving room for self-driving system applications, and other upcoming technologies to emphasize Hyundai’s open architecture for the future. The system utilizes side cameras instead of traditional wing mirrors to overcome visibility challenges caused by dirt gathering on the mirror offering progressively less visibility. 45 overcomes this challenge by using an embedded turntable module, which rotates the lens past a brush to ensure perfect visibility at all times.

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