Hyundai Motor Group continues to press ahead with the potential of hydrogen energy while also pushing the boundaries of commercial vehicle concepts.
The global enterprise touted its vision for the future during its Hydrogen Wave online forum held Sept. 7. Underscoring its commitment to clean sustainable energy for all types of mobility, the Group unveiled plans that will see the electrification of all new commercial vehicle models—featuring fuel cell electric or battery electric powertrains, as well as the application of fuel cell systems—to all models by 2028.
Of interest to readers of Trailer/Body Builders, Hyundai highlighted its Trailer Drone concept, a hydrogen-powered container transportation system capable of operating fully autonomously.
With the number of intelligently packaged hydrogen tanks tailored to the journey profile, the flexible and efficient Trailer Drone ensures more than 1,000km of sufficient range from a single charge, comparable to existing container transportation systems, the company boasted.
But the autonomous capabilities of the Trailer Drone were not achieved by simply repurposing technology developed for passenger car applications. The unique requirements of container transport applications and the way container terminals operate meant that engineering teams from the Group needed to completely redefine how a container maneuvers.
As a result, the engineering team developed the ‘Fuel Cell e-Bogie’.
“At CES 2020, we presented the Purpose Built Vehicle, pushing the boundaries of what is possible when systems go fully autonomous,” SangYup Lee, senior vice president and head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design, said. “This blank design slate is a never-before-experienced dream opportunity, and we put everything that we learned in the last few years into this project.”
The term ‘bogie’ originates from the rail industry. Rail bogies are wheel subframes that sit under every train car. The Fuel Cell e-Bogie sits under the container just like a rail bogie and is a fully enclosed system with fuel cell propulsion and fully independent four-wheel steering.
The Trailer Drone concept requires two fuel cell e-Bogies, allowing for unprecedented maneuverability through sideways movement. The Trailer Drone can move autonomously through portside operations and tight urban environments. Efficiency is further boosted by the ‘Cluster Mode’ which enables multiple Trailer Drones to travel together in an almost train-like configuration.
“Devoid of passengers, we could encase the entire fuel cell system in the dedicated chassis. With a fully autonomous system, a steering system could be placed at both the front and the rear,” he said. “The e-Bogie really is more like a smart robot than a traditional car. Just like the smartphone revolution, the fuel cell e-Bogie is a platform that offers limitless business application.
“Large and heavy containers are limited by their size and the space they require to move. But with two e-Bogies in a double bogie configuration under a container, they can articulate movement from beneath. It helps them minimize the turning radius or to slide sideways into a tight spot.”
The Fuel Cell e-Bogie is not exclusive to the Trailer Drone and caters to a wide value chain such as ground logistics, construction, firefighting and disaster relief missions, Hyundai noted. It offers a multi-purpose platform, capable of a variety of objectives—all in zero-emission and autonomous operation.
