What's the news?
Hyundai took the opportunity of the Geneva Motor Show to give two of its products world premieres, in the form of the i30 Tourer and the hydrogen-powered FE Fuel Cell concept car.
Also alongside these two newcomers on the stand was the remaining piece of the three-part Ioniq jigsaw - the Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) version - an autonomous Ioniq, the RN30 Concept seen last year at Paris, the i20 Coupe WRC competition car... and wearable exoskeletons. No, we've not been at the gin again, thank you, that last part is true.
The i30 Tourer is the second model in a four-car line-up for Hyundai's C-segment challenger, following on from the hatchback which we've already driven. It will, later in the year, be followed by a coupe version and the hot 'N' performance i30, but for now it's all about the practicality of the Tourer. Hyundai is claiming one of the largest boots in the sector, courtesy of 602 litres with all seats in place and 1,650 litres with the rear row folded down, plus a storage area under the cargo bay floor.
Moving on, the Future Eco (FE) Fuel Cell Concept previews Hyundai's forthcoming generation of cars, powered by hydrogen. It can go more than 800km on a tank of the compressed fuel and Woong Chul Yang, vice-chairman of Hyundai, explained: "Hyundai Motor has a heritage of building innovative, fuel-efficient vehicles and aims to become a global leader in sustainable mobility through its leadership in hydrogen fuel-cell technology."
We knew this one was coming, but we're glad to see it anyway - third on our list is the Hyundai Ioniq PHEV. We've sampled the Hybrid and Electric models and liked them a lot, especially when Neil drove the EV here in Ireland, but the PHEV promises even more real-world usability and goodness. Like the parallel-series Hybrid Ioniq, the PHEV uses the 1.6-litre GDI petrol engine but with a bigger, 8.9kWh lithium-ion battery and a more powerful electric motor; in fact, exactly the same sort of announcement has been made by sister brand Kia and its Niro crossover at the show - these cars share their drivetrains, you see. Expect 63km of EV running, 26g/km CO2 and 1.1 litres/100km (257mpg) from the Ioniq PHEV.
Alongside this plug-in were the other two models of Ioniq, as well as an autonomous Ioniq simulator. It's a vehicle with a hidden LiDAR system in its front bumper and two VR cockpits will give visitors to the stand a chance to experience a 'drive' in the self-driving car.
Anything else?
The Hyundai Medical Exoskeleton, Hyundai Universal Medical Assist and Hyundai Waist Exoskeleton are known as H-MEX, HUMA and H-WEX respectively, and they're described as 'advanced wearable robots' that are designed to 'facilitate personal mobility beyond the automobile'. H-MEX helps patients with lower spinal-cord injuries regain the ability to walk; HUMA provides assisted mobility support for people with limited muscular power; and H-WEX provides upper-body and hip support to prevent back injuries for manual workers doing repetitive, boring jobs or heavy lifting. Never mind the autonomous car, the cyborg era is almost upon us...