You’ve heard all about the different flying car concepts but what about a car that can bust out four legs when you’re just not feeling the traffic? Hyundai Elevate is the company’s “walking car” concept that’s not actually meant to take you over a traffic jam. It would deploy robotic legs to basically walk over rough terrain. The company says that this concept has been designed with first responders in mind who can use its robotic legs to travel across difficult terrain.
Hyundai Elevate’s robotic legs can enable it to walk at 3 miles per hour aside from being able to climb a 1.5 meter wall and even jump a 5 feet gap. It could thus prove to be very useful in emergency rescues after natural disasters.
“When a tsunami or earthquake hits, current rescue vehicles can only deliver first responders to the edge of the debris field. They have to go the rest of the way by foot,” explained Hyundai vice-president John Suh. He said that Elevate would be able to drive to the scene and then climb over the flood debris or crumbled concrete to reach the location.
Another scenario is when the Elevate is used to walk up to the front door of a step-only access building to collect wheelchair users. Hyundai hasn’t made a full-scale prototype as yet so all we get is computer imagery but the benefits of this technology in rescue situations are pretty evident.