Hyundai Ioniq – Solves hatch parking

During the big electronics exhibition in Las Vegas this week, Hyundai’s department for self-driving cars – Hyundai Mobis – showed off the system they call e-Corner. It is installed in a prototype of the electric Ioniq 5 and enables the car to maneuver in completely new ways.

As the video showsthe four wheels can rotate 90 degrees in the same direction, which means that the car can easily drive sideways in and out of narrow parking spaces, but that’s not all.

The car can move in just about any imaginable way. It can move the front and rear wheels independently of each other, so that it turns 360 degrees around itself. It can drive diagonally and it can turn only the rear wheels 90 degrees and drive like a forklift. E-Corner only works at lower speeds.

For electric cars

The technology consists of an electric motor, electric shock absorber, brakes and steering on each wheel. There is no physical connection to the brake pedal or steering wheel. From there, electrical signals (steer-by cables) go to small electric motors in each wheel.

According to Hyundai Mobis, the system should be suitable for a number of electric car models, without affecting the interior space in the cars. Hyundai has not released any more details about the system. Not even when they expect the e-Corner to be ready for series production.

Allowed in Norway, fined in Sweden

Cybertrucks «crab-mode»

However, the potential for such a system, if it goes into production, is great. It will

could make life easier both for the engineers who develop the cars and for the drivers.

The American GMC Hummer EV, which went on sale last year, has a system that allows it to drive diagonally. Several sources claim that Tesla’s Cybertruck will also get a so-called crab mode, which allows it to move sideways like a crab. Production of the Cybertruck is scheduled to start this year.