Hyundai Mobis demonstrates car that can drive sideways to park

Hyundai Mobis has succeeded in applying its e-Corner System to a functioning vehicle, which allows it to move sideways like a crab and spin around a vertical axis like a figure skater.

The auto parts maker on Sunday released a video featuring an Ioniq 5 equipped with the system on roads in Seosan, South Chungcheong.

In the video, the electric vehicle performs a “crab walk,” moving sideways like a crab with 90-degree rotating wheels and a “zero turn,” spinning around a vertical axis like a figure skater, with four wheels moving at different angles.

Crab walking enables drivers to parallel park when they have to park in a confined space without having to steer the car handle in a complex manner, Mobis said.

Drivers can now also make a zero-radius turn when confronted with a dead end. By simply making a zero turn, they can rotate the car and then drive forward.

The technology also allows vehicles to be driven diagonally at 45 degrees, and its pivot turn feature lets people rotate the car by pivoting it at the position and angle they want.

Mobis aims to commercialize the technology in 2027.

“We are idealizing the e-Corner System in order to meet the demands for future mobility,” Cheon Jae-seung, the head of the future technology convergence institute at Hyundai Mobis, said.

“We will secure different types of customized mobility solutions that can be applied in autonomous driving and purpose-built vehicles to solidify our vision of reaching new heights as a mobility platform provider.”

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]