Hyundai has formed a new unit to push vehicle development to the extreme. New Horizons Studio is tasked with developing vehicles to traverse off-road terrains with ‘unprecedented mobility’, using robotics and wheeled locomotion technology.

The Hyundai Elevate vehicle is the first concept being developed by New Horizons Studio. The vehicle does not rely solely on wheels and is expected to address challenging driving situations – for example, a car with robotic legs could save lives as the first responder in natural disasters; or, people who do not have access to an ADA ramp could hail a car to walk up to their front door, level itself, and allow wheelchairs to roll right in. Using a combination of robotics and wheeled locomotion technology, Elevate and other vehicles by New Horizons Studio are expected to redefine vehicular mobility.

New Horizons Studio is led by Vice President Dr. John Suh, who has held several leadership roles at Hyundai Motor Group since 2011. He served as founding director of Hyundai Ventures, and then led Hyundai CRADLE (Centre for Robotic-Augmented Design in Living Experiences) as its founding director based in Silicon Valley. He brings over 35 years of expertise in the automotive and emerging technology sectors, including roles at Stanford University, Palo Alto Research Center, and General Motors Company.

“We aim to create the world’s first transformer-class vehicle, also known as the Ultimate Mobility Vehicle,” said Dr. Suh.

Also joining New Horizons Studio is Dr Ernestine Fu, who becomes group’s Director of Product Management. She has led research on human operator and autonomous vehicle interactions at Stanford University’s Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Lab.