30 March 2009 - 11:00
Where there's a Will...
See more Hyundai BLUE-WILL concept pics
Manufacturers like to go big at their home motor show, so with the Seoul show (tickets going fast, book now!) kicking off this week, Hyundai has gathered up all the green tech it can possibly lay its hands on... and wedged it into a funky, angular concept-thing.
This is the Blue-Will concept, a plug-in hybrid built from old Coke bottles, plant extract and recycled tramps' shoes. OK, we lied about the tramps' shoes. The headlights, though, are manufactured from plastic drinks bottles, while the engine cover is moulded from plastic derived from plant extracts instead of fossil fuels.
On the roof, just in front of the Prius-style angled hatch (a shape that keeps cropping up in hybrids thanks to its aerodynamic efficiency) there are dye-sensitized solar cells that help top up the Blue-Will's lithium-ion battery pack.
On the subject of which, the drivetrain is perhaps the most relevant bit of the Blue-Will. The concept is powered by a direct-injection 1.6-litre petrol engine coupled to an electric motor which drives the wheels: like the Chevrolet Volt (and Vauxhall Ampera), the petrol engine is only used to top up the battery pack, never to power the car directly.
At least some of this technology is just about production ready: Hyundai will introduce the world's first lithium ion polymer battery pack into a production vehicle when the Elantra (the Korean version of the i30) goes on sale this summer. Don't tell us you don't want one...
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Is that Elanta or Elantra?
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Erm, yes... the Elanta. It's the short wheelbase version of the Elantra. Maybe. Thanks for the spot, Johnny. Changed it now.
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First thought on seeing this was: "Wow, Peugoet got there Mojo back!" Then I saw that it was a Hyundai and that train of thought was replaced by: "Best looking Korean car yet". Its a surprisingly handsome beast, seems to get that balance of weird and stylish about as right as its possible to get.
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I don't trust any car with a silly grin in its face. It looks like its designers are from "Looney Tunes"
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Big problem guys. How do you think it is going 2 look otr? Crazy and ostentacious!!!!! Would you buy it i don't think so. I know it's stunning and all and have probably got good fuel economy but we have to think realisticly.
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@Sam: I find it hard to imagine how a short wheelbase version of the Elantra will look like. LOL Well although I'm in Germany right now, I know that back home in Beijing, Hyundai's been selling tens of thousands of Elantras as Taxis and that's quite annoying. Well, sort of.
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something that is recyclable seems a great scheme these days because car makers have an excuse for them falling to peices and being a nightmare to fix. finally this is ugly
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Afaque commented on this article
30 March 2009
It looks pretty funky! I'ld like one... If only the production model looks anywhere close to this one!!
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