QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car

QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car

QarmaQ is Hyundai's Advanced Technology Demonstration Vehicle (ATDV) that showcases over 30 different environmentally progressive technologies led by the innovative “Elastic Front™”, an innovative solution that can help reduce the risk of severe injuries in Crossover Utility Vehicles (CUV) pedestrian collisions.

QarmaQ was designed at Hyundai Motor Europe's Design and Technical Center in Russelsheim and engineered in cooperation with GE Plastics.

The name "QarmaQ" derives from traditional Inuit dwellings, constructed from earth, whalebone and animal skins.

QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car

Like them, QarmaQ challenges conventional ideas on construction methods and materials. Also in common with the original structures, it boasts unusual strength, resilience and protection.

QarmaQ develops and validates over 30 key technologies, which will be selectively incorporated into Hyundai’s new models to be rolled out from 2008-2014.

QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car is lighter, stronger and more economical than any current production CUV in its class. It also offers significant recycling advantages both in construction and eventual disassembly. In short, it is a viable and realistic glimpse of the future potential of personal automotive transport.

As a joint project with GE Plastics, QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car endowed designers with greater expressive freedom to create complex three-dimensional shapes that could not have been achieved with conventional production methods and materials such as metal and glass.

QarmaQ's 2-liter diesel engine is fully compliant with EURO5 emission regulations. It features the very latest technologies such as high pressure fuel injection and fine fuel spray atomization for higher torque and better power output. Regulated emissions such as CO, THC, NOx and PM, were reduced drastically while a Catalyzed Particulate Filter system, CPF, is capable of cleaning about 90 percent of the particulate matter from the diesel emissions. Furthermore, by switching the position of CPF from the under-floor area to a location more closely coupled to the exhaust manifold, it was possible to minimize the catalytic light-off time and to enhance the naturally regenerative characteristics of the CPF.

QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car

Departing from conventional car design that combines a lower body and a glass cabin on top, QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car blazes a new trail with panoramic wrap-around glazing area using GE’s Lexan™ polycarbonate resin.

This part sits between the two pronounced “muscles” above the front and rear wheels.

The C-shaped side window enables innovative helicopter-like downward visibility and is a key design feature demonstrating the new glazing technology.

Connected by unique glazed surfaces, the exterior design relates strongly to, and interacts effortlessly with the interior. The unique division between the solid bodywork and transparent glazed areas creates a new perspective, whether viewed from inside or from the pedestrian standpoint.

The exterior contours and fluidity of line have been refined to give an immediate impression of movement frozen in motion. This aesthetic is mirrored in the interior, so that the fusion and merging of the perceptual boundaries between inside and out delivers a feeling of integration and synchronization to the overall appearance.

Although QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car does not have a high waistline or small window area (conventional methods to convey a feeling of protection), the exterior design still communicates a commanding presence and a feeling of protection to the occupants.

QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car is designed to carry four people in above average comfort. The extensive use of new materials and techniques has resulted in a more fluid and unified interior, by allowing seamless integration of otherwise intrusive elements.

As the sporting exterior proportions suggest, QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car is primarily a driver’s car.

Within its unique interior architecture the cockpit is isolated in an active, yet protective pod structure. This helps promote a sensorial and highly self-indulgent driving experience.

One of the main aims of the interior design was to develop a practical and interactive space, which wraps around the occupants.

The driver-oriented cockpit, which combines functionality with organic sculpted shapes, creates an attractive, fun-to-drive atmosphere.

QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car

Exatec™ infrared coatings on the whole transparent areas reflect heat, helping cool the interior and reducing the power demands upon the infrared regulated air conditioning. Lighting is achieved by incorporating mood illumination into the actual material, delivering a unique interior ambience. The material also facilitates a perfectly flat, fully integrated fractal radio antenna within the roof structure.

Among other milestones in the construction of QarmaQ Hyundai Concept Car, the front wings were designed from the beginning to be one very large single injection moulded component. Together with the deformable bonnet and precise bumper mouldings, these also form a major addition to pedestrian impact safety. The sophistication of the material and manufacturing technique also played a major part in the ability to fully encapsulate the complex headlight shape into the whole frontal styling.

At the other end, the tailgate breaks new ground by bonding different materials, including the glazing and rear light assemblies, to create a one-piece component structure. This increases the integral strength, while at the same time simplifying vehicle assembly and reducing weight.

Another major safety advance is the use of sensors to detect vehicle presence in the blind spots of the rear view mirrors when pulling out or overtaking, and audio-visually alert the driver.