Intrado, unveiled at the Hyundai press conference at Geneva, shows the company’s optimistic vision of a future where mobility is more enjoyable and more relevant. Far more than a styling exercise, Intrado demonstrates Hyundai’s belief that advanced vehicle technologies and intelligent design can combine to engage more effectively with driver and passengers. The car’s use of lightweight materials, radical construction methods and advanced powertrain raises efficiency, while the design focus inside and out is on meeting the needs of consumers with busy lifestyles.

Intrado takes its name from the underside of an aircraft’s wing the area that creates lift. The car’s advanced materials and technologies also draw inspiration from aircraft, such as the removal of all unnecessary weight, logical solutions to complex challenges, inspired by a purity of purpose, and a highly efficient powertrain.

The distinctive exterior shape of Intrado is dictated by the need to be aerodynamically efficient; it is free of unnecessary adornments and features minimal detailing. The body panels are made of advanced super-lightweight steel from Hyundai Motor Company steel plant. Its interior is defined by a focus on usability and adaptability, and draws attention to its advanced materials and radical construction. The seals of opening panels shut directly against the central carbon frame, showcasing the carbon fiber whenever doors, hood or trunk are opened. Components that are usually concealed are highlighted, including the ‘see-through’ air vents and exposed frame onto which the seats clip directly.

The super-lightweight structure of Intrado demonstrates Hyundai’s desire to produce lighter, stronger cars that are even better to drive and simpler to repair. The central carbon frame structure is constructed using new manufacturing and joining techniques that together have the potential to change the way cars are made. The strength and rigidity of this central structure also allow body panels to be constructed from any material, giving designers greater flexibility and aiding reparability. Lightweight steel impact structures further enhance crash performance and repair times.

Intrado is powered by a next-generation hydrogen fuel-cell powertrain that utilize a Li-ion 36 kW battery. Refueled in just a few minutes, Intrado has a range of more than 600 kilometers and emits only water. In addition to increased range, Intrado promises more responsive and agile driving dynamics, thanks to the reduced weight and greater efficiency of its powertrain.

The Hyundai Intrado Concept is revolutionary. If it really is feasible to make vehicles using carbon fiber in this way, from both technological and cost-effectiveness standpoints, then it won't just be Hyundai doing it. Every other carmaker will follow suit.

On a more real-world note, this is Hyundai's first concept created under the leadership of design boss Peter Schreyer, who used to work for Audi (playing a major part in the creation of the original TT) and then moved to Kia. He has received an honorary doctorate from London's Royal College of Art, only the third automotive designer to have done so. Now he oversees the whole Hyundai/Kia styling operation. So expect more stunning looking cars from these marques.

The key inspiration behind Intrado comes from aeronautics, and harnessing the power of air flow to create a more efficient form. This inspired the name ‘Intrado’, which is the underside area of an aircraft’s wing that creates lift.

Raphael Bretecher, General Manager, Design Department at Hyundai Design Centre Europe, and Intrado project leader, commented: “Intrado aims to encapsulate the efficiency and freedom associated with flying, while paving the way for future Hyundai models. The parallels with aircraft go far beyond the name. Nothing is present solely for decoration. Everything serves a purpose. Like an aircraft, Intrado has a purity of design that is beautiful and efficient.”

Hyundai Motors

The Genesis New York Concept has been unveiled overnight to preview what is arguably Hyundai’s most ambitious car yet – a sleek-looking luxury sedan that will battle the BMW 3 Series.

Inside, the New York Concept’s dash is dominated by an ultra-wide, curving 21-inch screen that incorporates both a circular instrument panel and digital multimedia displays that include a speedo. There’s also a Batmobile-style steering wheel notable for an open top section. The cabin features a prominent spinal centre console that runs from the dash through to the two individual rear seats.

A hybrid drivetrain sits under the concept’s bonnet, comprising a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, an electric motor and an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Power and torque outputs of 180kW and 353Nm are quoted, which would put the G70 in the same engine-performance region as specific models such as the BMW 330i and Lexus IS200t.

Hyundai Motor

An all-electric, single-seat supercar, Faraday Future’s FFZERO1 Concept upped the ante at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 4. Equipped with motors at each wheel, the 1,000 hp vehicle vaults from zero to 60 mph in under 3 seconds (on its way to a top speed of 200 mph), while representing the next generation of connectivity.

FF makes its debut in China bringing the future of connected electric vehicles to the largest electric vehicle market in the world. After launching the brand and its FFZERO1 Concept Car at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), FF selected the Beijing International Automobile Exhibition to make its Chinese debut, the largest automotive market in the world. The two countries, the U.S. and China, are the most important markets for the company.

The company’s first ever concept, the FFZERO1, is a high performance electric vehicle designed to leverage the power of FF’s Variable Platform Architecture (VPA). The VPA is a modular engineering system optimized for electric vehicles, on which all future FF production vehicles will be based.

“The FFZERO1 Concept is an amplified version of the design and engineering philosophies informing FF’s forthcoming production vehicles,” said Richard Kim, Head of Design, Faraday Future. “This project liberated our designers and inspired new approaches for vehicle forms, proportions and packaging that we can apply to our upcoming production models.”

A core FF philosophy is to design from the inside out. The FFZERO1 Concept’s interior is primarily white with a carbon fiber finish – a pure and extremely clean aesthetic, atypical for combustion engine race cars, but reflective of a clean, quiet electric vehicle.

Inspired by NASA research, the single-seat configuration offers a comfortable, near-weightless body position, holding the driver at a perfect 45-degree angle, thereby helping to promote optimum circulation and focus when driving on the limits.

Debuting at the Beijing International Automobile Exhibition in its purity form, the FFZERO1 is showcased with a new white finish. The new finish exhibits a clean, calm and powerful silent state much like a marble sculpture. FFZERO1 Concept has sculptural design that is inspired by the form and finish from xx architecture. The purity approach shows a new way of thinking about racecars and visualizes a holistic design and demonstrations a symbiosis of form and finish.

As a tribute to FF’s inside out philosophy, white is morphing from the inside to the outside. The materials and finishes of the vehicle were carefully selected to invoke a sense of superior connectivity for the car. Utilizing lightweight materials and composites on the VPA platform, the FF design team experimented with new driver-focused proportions, pushing the canopy forward for a perfectly aerodynamic teardrop profile. FF’s soon-to-be signature “UFO line” runs around the center of the vehicle and is intended to give the sense that this vehicle is not completely of this world. Aero tunnels run through the interior length of the vehicle, allowing air to flow through the car rather than around it, dramatically reducing drag and improving battery cooling.

User-centric design is core to FF’s product development approach. Like future FF production models, the FFZERO1 Concept has a sense of its drivers’ needs: featuring adaptive personalization, seamless transfer of custom vehicle configurations, access to live images and real time data visualization. FF takes a literal integration approach with the most customizable and personal device users own today – their smartphones. FFZERO1 Concept directly incorporates the user’s device into the steering column, representing the intersection of technology and automotive engineering. Conceptually, this setup could enable the smartphone to serve as the interface between the vehicle and the driver in – and outside – of the car. The FFZERO1 Concept explores autonomous features for the future, such as the vehicle meeting its driver at the track and perhaps taking a few perfect laps on its own to compare with, and improve upon, its driver’s performance.

“Autonomous driving is a key part of our company’s DNA,” said Jan Becker, Senior Director, Automated Driving, Faraday Future. “Traffic situations on public roads are inherently unpredictable. Acquiring the California Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit is an important and exciting step forward for FF, allowing us to test our autonomous driving software, sensors, hardware, and user interfaces in these ‘real-world’ environments. Through this enhanced testing, and under the constant supervision of our qualified test drivers who will be behind the steering wheel at all times, we are confident in the success of the autonomous technologies that we are developing for future FF products.”