At last year's CES, Hyundai showcased the Ioniq Autonomous concept – the first tangible product in its push for driverless motoring. This year, the automaker has decided to unveil its new Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV).
Hyndai's new SUV – details of which have not yet been released – draws heavily from the FE Fuel Cell Concept shown at the Geneva motor show, last year. The concept had a range of 497 miles, with a power density 30 percent higher than that of Hyundai's previous FCEV, the ix35 Fuel Cell.
The technology on board the new car also shows advancement over the ix35 Fuel Cell. Hyundai claims that its advanced driver assistance systems will feature something new – although it stopped short of announcing exactly what that would be. Speculation is, of course, abound. It’s likely to be a semi-autonomous system much like the Volkswagen Group's Traffic Jam Assist; in which the car controls its acceleration, braking and steering below certain speeds in certain environments.
The upcoming car will mark Hyundai's first in the testing of fully autonomous systems since its powertrain is ideal for coping with the high energy demand of autonomous systems (specifically, their data handling, communication and sensors) and it has a long range.
The unveiling of the model comes shortly after Hyundai announced its first fully-autonomous car, due in 2021 as the result of the brand's partnership Aurora, a self-driving technology company. Aurora will assist Hyundai in bringing the two brands' technologies to the market as quickly and safely as possible – targeting Level 4 autonomy. Work on the back-end development of said technologies has already begun.