Design in the early- to mid-20th century was full of optimism. Art deco and the "rocket age" look became staples. Hyundai is tapping into those feelings for an area that often isn't full of creativity: semi trucks.
Hyundai revealed the Hyundai HDC-6 Neptune on Monday, a hydrogen fuel
cell-powered semi truck that looks like something from a cross between Tron and I, Robot.
Its striking looks graced the North American Commercial Vehicle Show in
Atlanta, and the we received a few more details about the unique semi
concept.
Foremost, the name Neptune honors the Roman god of the
seas. The sea, after all, could be the world's largest source of
potential hydrogen fuel. The automaker also mentioned it's learned a lot
from its fuel cell passenger-vehicle program, most recently with the Nexo crossover, and it sounds like those lessons helped shape the HDC-6 Neptune.
With
a hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain, the company said designers looked at
the semi with a clean-sheet reinterpretation. One thing is very
prominent, however. Since the powertrain needs a lot of cooling, the
grille stretches across the entire lower portion of the HDC-6 Neptune.
Hyundai
said it believes zero-emission trucks will play a major part in taking
carbon out of the environment. Honestly, this truck will probably look
good while doing it, too. Hyundai specifically mentions art deco as an
influence for the fuel cell truck concept: Designers looked closely at
1930s streamliner railway trains. It's not only neat-looking, this
design marries form and function. As one example, the grille integrates
retractable steps. Additionally, by morphing traditional cab-over engine
and conventional designs, Hyundai said it's achieved pretty incredible
ergonomics while maintaining efficiency.
Judging by the lack of real-world photos of the interior, I have to
imagine this concept doesn't pack a real cabin. However, renderings show
a screen wraps around the oblong windshield and there's still a
steering wheel present. From the looks of it, pedals are absent,
however. The area where a bench seat typically takes up space instead
features two captain's chairs with a center console bolted between them.
Finally, a prominent head-up display (HUD) is also mirrored onto the
windshield.
Hyundai said its absolutely ready to crack into the US
commercial vehicle market, and we could see something like the HDC-6
Neptune inspire a production semi when it gets here. Right now, it's
running 1,600 fuel cell semis in Switzerland for trials. The US,
according to the company, is on deck next.
