An exercise in style
Design exercises are commonplace in the automotive world. German carmaker Hyundai has also tried its hand at it in collaboration with the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED), a renowned Italian design school based in Turin. It's a futuristic hybrid buggy that was created by 15 master's students in transportation design in partnership with the Hyundai Design Center Europe. Through its partnerships, Hyundai contributes to the training of young designers, leveraging their work with talented design students.
"Design is the number one reason our European customers choose Hyundai cars. We are always evolving our design to reflect the modern lifestyle, which is the key to our success." said Thomas Bürkle, chief designer at Hyundai Design Center Europe.
A buggy that turns into a jet-ski
The Hyundai Kite euros is a light buggy with two seats that transforms into a jet-ski for one person. This vehicle has no doors, no roof and no windows and can be used on the streets as well as on the water. It consists of a monocoque chassis with a length of 3.745 m and a height of 1.455 m.
The designers wanted to reduce the barriers between the exterior and interior to create a functional and fun car. The lines of the vehicle are meant to evoke freedom and buoyancy, recalling the idea of having a good time on the water.
In both the Euro road and sea configurations the vehicle is equipped with an electric propulsion system with four brush motors (DC motors) placed inside the wheels and a water jet turbine to move on the water.
The Hyundai Kite is controlled via a smartphone and not from the control station to provide intuitive control of all vehicle functions.
Even if this project will remain at the stage of project, we wonder how it would have been possible to transform the buggy into a jet-ski. The pictures and videos do not show it. So not everything is possible to realize, but only to imagine
