The South Korean automotive giant has struck a deal with the startup company Canoo, according to which the latter lends its self-driving EV platform and tech to future Hyundai- and Kia-branded vehicles.
Hyundai said it was impressed with the rates at which the budding carmaker (previously known as Evelozcity) designed its own ‘skateboard’ chassis from the ground up. The entire development took only 19 months, and you can see the result in our gallery and the video here. Canoo has recently started accepting pre-orders for the shuttle, and promises to launch sales in the USA and China next year.
The Canoo platform comes driven by a single electric motor that yields 304 hp (227 kW) and 425 Nm (313 lb-ft) of torque. An 80-kWh traction battery should give it enough range, but the numbers aren’t there yet.
The shuttle bus is 4,421 mm (14.5 feet) long, 1,898 mm (6.23 ft.) wide and 1,846 mm (6.06 ft.) tall with 2,850 mm (9.35 ft.) separating the axles. The road clearance amounts to 161 mm (6.3 inches), the wheels measure 20 inches across, and the interior can accommodate up to seven passengers. As for the drive, Canoo offers its mini-bus in RWD and AWD variants.
On a related note, Hyundai runs a few similar projects with other innovative companies as well. Among other things, startup firm Arrival is busy designing another skateboard chassis for the company, while Rimac Automobili assists it in EV racecar design.