Hyundai Motor Group automotive supply division Hyundai Mobis has been working on its rotational e-corner wheel system for several years now. At this year's CES, it's showing off the fruits of that labor. The Ioniq 5-bodied Mobion prototype uses the versatile high-tech wheels to slide, glide and practically dance its way around the floor or parking lot. Forget mere crab walking – this hatch can forego parallel parking and roll laterally into a tight space or do an about-face at the end of a narrow parking aisle.
The last time we looked at the e-Corner modules in 2021, they were doing their acrobatics at the base of a boxy urban mobility concept pod. Hyundai Mobis looks to bring the tech closer to reality by highlighting it this year on the "Mobion," a prototype that's name is a portmanteau of "Mobis" and "on," like an electrical switch. Installing the tech on an actual passenger car and throwing it into on-road driving situations certainly adds intrigue over just showing it on a pure show vehicle. CES goers can watch the Mobion slide, spin and strut around a closed-off course.
The Mobis e-Corner module features a comprehensive "In-Wheel" package that rolls electric motor propulsion, braking, steering and suspension hardware into a single unit. There's one In-Wheel unit at each of the four wheels, and they are individually actuated with Mobis' advanced control tech. The four wheels can move in unison or in separate directions depending on the desired direction of travel.
Steer each wheel inward to its maximum angle and the Mobion can roll slowly sideways. Keep the front wheels straight and still and accelerate the rear wheels sideways and the car will do a pivot spin, rotating in a circle centered around the front-end.
Since other road users won't be prepared for a car that slinks diagonally or suddenly accelerates to the side, Hyundai Mobis has developed an accompanying ground projection system that shines the Mobion's direction of travel onto the road surface. The 360-degree lighting array can also project a crosswalk onto the road for pedestrians detected by the vehicle's autonomous sensing hardware.
"The Mobion represents the embodiment of Hyundai Mobis' core technologies, all of which are ready for immediate mass production," said Hyundai Mobis VP and head of advanced engineering Lee Seung-Hwan. "Always striving to shift the mobility paradigm with vehicles, Mobis created Mobion to showcase our key products and capabilities."
Those who aren't at CES to experience the Mobion in person can watch the system at work in the video below. We're skipping the wannabe music video mess Hyundai Mobis released for CES 2024 and embedding the clip it shared last year when it began testing on public roads. That one does a much better job showing how the e-Corner system could prove useful in everyday traffic and parking situations.
Source: Hyundai Mobis
