Imagine yourself in a big city. More or less in the centre. Searching desperately for a parking space, but can’t find a hole that is one. Then, miraculously, here’s a little space. But, of course, you have to do a lot of maneuvering because the parking area is narrow: so you have to steer. A little forward, a little behind. The machine that grazes (or touches) the two that border, the risk of some scratches.
Everyday scenes, right? You think they might disappear. Imagine if, when you glimpsed that space, it was enough to position yourself sideways and then, almost by magic, tell the tires to rotate sideways. And here the car positions itself gently, quietly in the rest area.
Wonderful, right? It could happen. Even shortly. You have to have faith and believe in Hyundai. Yes, because the Korean company has been investing in this idea for some years now, and the moment of a car that can move sideways by making a 360-degree turn on itself or diagonally is getting closer and closer and it’s not more a fantasy.
The magic word, as mentioned, is Hyundai Mobis Tech. They have been studying us for four years now, and an Ioniq 5 prototype was presented at CES with a technology that exploits the advantages of electric propulsion and the new possibilities in terms of integrating motors with the wheel to free itself from the limitations of drive shafts . e-Corner combines steering, suspension and powertrain functions integrated into the wheel. It therefore allows a steering angle of 90 degrees to be achieved independently for each wheel and opens the door to all possibilities in terms of handling and manoeuvring.
It can do the crab, turning 90 degrees, or it can do the “zero turn”, turning 45° in opposite directions on each train, Let’s face it all: it would be a dream, just to imagine not having to turn your neck, with the stress of traffic and other drivers who watch us maneuver and don’t want to waste time. Fingers crossed.