[CES 2024] Future cars? No steering wheel. Moving sideways like a crab.

Industry

Published: 10 Jan. 2024, 17:55 Updated: 10 Jan. 2024, 18:14

[CES 2024] Future cars? No steering wheel. Moving sideways like a crab.

Hyundai Mobis' Mobion EV moves sideways like a crab. [HYUNDAI MOBIS]

LAS VEGAS — Cars with no steering wheels. Vehicles that make diagonal turns and crab walks.

With many mysterious-looking cars making their debut at CES 2024, hundreds of visitors were making endless lines in front of the Hyundai Motor booth Tuesday, with the expectation of seeing cars of the future that are installed with the latest AI and software.

"I've been in the line for over 40 minutes now as I made no reservation in advance," said Cherie Wang, a tech engineer at a Chinese mobility company. "CES is now really like a motor show."

The biggest twist here? No single vehicle is on display at the Hyundai booth, the third-largest automaker in the world.

"It shows how serious Hyundai is toward auto tech like AI and software of the automobile, instead of hardware," said a commenter who led Tuesday's booth tour.

Hyundai Motor Executive Chair Euisun Chung, left, explains the company's hydrogen strategy to Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, center, and 42dot CEO Song Chang-hyun, during their tour to the automaker's booth at CES 2024 in Las Vegas. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Visitors to CES 2024 take a look at Hyundai Motor's booth in Las Vegas on Tuesday. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

The 2,010-square-meter (21,635-square-feet) booth starts with nine tables that show Hyundai's hydrogen strategy to build a value chain from three phases: production, storage and transportation and utilization.

Hyundai announced its business expansion to energy during the tech fair, with the aim of producing 3 million tons of hydrogen per year by 2035. Its hydrogen energy won't just go to cars, but also to trains, ships, power generators, construction, steelmaking, robotics, air mobility and manufacturing itself.

A four-legged Spot, made by Boston Dynamics, at Hyundai Motor's booth at CES 2024 in Las Vegas [SARAH CHEA]

Various technologies of software-defined vehicles (SDVs) are on display including AI voice assistant and self-driving technology. SDVs, or what the industry calls "smartphones on wheels," are equipped with an over-the-air (OTA) system that can update cars' software with the latest features over time.

"It takes over two years for self-driving cars to fully operate without humans," 42dot CEO Song Chang-hyun told Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who visited the booth Tuesday morning accompanied by Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.

It's because "we prioritize safety," Chung told Oh.

Visitors to CES 2024 take a look at Kia's booth in Las Vegas on Tuesday. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

While Hyundai focuses on software and energy, Kia and Hyundai Mobis filled their booth with cars with the latest technologies.

A van was parked at Kia's booth with no steering wheel, which confused visitors.

"It's because people can always hide the steering wheel when they don't need it, which will make them use the space wisely as a desk or a camping car," said a Kia spokesperson.

The electric van, named PV5, is where Kia is betting big as the company eyes purpose-built vehicles (PBVs) as the next growth engine. PBVs are designed for specific use cases such as shuttling, last-mile delivery and ride-hailing services.

Visitors take a look at Hyundai Mobis' booth at CES 2024 in Las Vegas [HYUNDAI MOBIS]

The PV5 is slated to be released in 2025. Kia is building a $880 million PBV manufacturing facility in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, where production will start in December 2024 with an annual capacity of 150,000.

Kia also displayed concepts for the PV7, the largest model, and PV1, the smallest model at the booth.

Hyundai Mobis, an auto parts maker, unveiled the Mobion EV equipped with its "e-Corner system" motion technology for the first time at CES 2024.

The system lets cars make "crab walks," or sideways movements, diagonal driving and pivot turns.

Mobis owns “in-wheel technology,” which places four small motors inside each wheel, as opposed to the single large driving motor commonly used in EVs. This configuration enables each wheel to generate its own power independently.

“The Mobion represents the embodiment of Hyundai Mobis’ core technologies, all of which are ready for immediate mass production,” said Lee Seung-Hwan, head of advanced engineering at Hyundai Mobis.

“Always striving to shift the mobility paradigm with vehicles, Mobis created [EV] MOBION to showcase our key products and capabilities.”

Hyundai Motor, Kia and Hyundai Mobis open their booths until Jan. 12.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]