Hyundai Motor has presented the concept of an unmanned hydrogen transport platform — a small low car without a cab, which can be used independently or as a tractor truck. In the cargo configuration, two platforms are used at once under different ends of the body, due to which the truck can drive sideways or pass through turns that are insurmountable for ordinary trucks. The company also announced that by 2028, all models of its commercial vehicles will have hydrogen versions.
Until recently, electric cars were considered as an almost non-alternative replacement for cars with internal combustion engines, and the vast majority of developments and production cars in this area were hybrid or purely electric. Developments in the field of hydrogen cars are also underway, and sometimes even reach mass production. Despite the fact that in general their volume is not comparable with electric transport, in the last couple of years, large automakers are increasingly developing hydrogen models, especially trucks. For example, over the past year, Mercedes-Benz (Daimler), Volvo and Toyota have announced their hydrogen trucks, and Hyundai has even started selling such cars, while the authorities and companies in Europe, the USA and Japan announced the construction of networks of hydrogen gas stations.
Hyundai has introduced the concept of a wheeled platform based on hydrogen fuel cells, which is markedly different from other developments in this area. The platform is a car with a normal width and length, but at the same time a rather small height due to the absence of a driver's cab. The platform has four wheels, and all of them turn, which increases maneuverability. The car is equipped with sensors and algorithms for a fully autonomous ride.
The platform can ride on its own, but the main feature of the concept is that the developers propose to use it as a tractor truck, and each trailer has two platforms — front and rear, like carts in trains. Due to this, as well as the fact that all the wheels turn, the truck can pass even sharp turns for such long cars. The authors suggest storing additional hydrogen in the trailer. The trailer consists of three separate segments that can be transported together on two platforms, or separately on three separate ones.
In part, a similar scheme is already being applied in practice by Boeing for the transportation of large-sized aircraft parts between factories. In front, the trailer is attached to a conventional tractor truck, and under the rear part there is a six-wheeled platform-a cart with a separate driver who helps a colleague from the tractor to steer on turns:
Volvo Trucks also offers to make flat unmanned tractors, and it already has working prototypes of the machine, which are tested by cargo transportation in a Swedish port.
Grigory Kopiev