Hyundai has already made waves by recently announcing that it was establishing the world’s first in-house division for the development of flying cars, but this time, the Korean auto giant has its sights set on a much bigger goal, with the firm revealing that it is also perhaps planning to enter the world of green long haul trucking.
Unlike Tesla and Nikola, Hyundai’s effort dubbed the HDC-6 Neptune will be powered purely by hydrogen, with the Neptune name being lifted from the moniker for the Roman god of the sea. The exterior styling of the concept ditches the futuristic centric look defined by rivals like the Tesla Semi, and instead embraces a look that is clearly inspired by the fast streamliner trains that helped define 1930s culture. The top section is reminiscent of Art Deco style trains from that era, while the bottom section will certainly make people think of the GM Futureliner. A bold blue strip extends from the front to the rear of the rig, while an illuminated circle is perhaps where the hydrogen fuel filler cap is located.
A second rendering showcases the interior, and it is packed with multiple screens, as well as a single spoke steering wheel that incorporates the button for the hazard lights in its design. The rest of the otherwise minimalist cabin appears to eschew traditional buttons and dials, with a pair of side mounted screens serving as the mirrors. A massive heads up display is also visible in the drawing, with more screens in the upper sections of the windshield showing occupants a wide array of essential information. The radio itself appears to incorporate a novel slider for volume control to the right of the driver, while a suitcase shaped storage area lurks below it.
Performance details are virtually unknown at this point, as well as whether Hyundai plans to actually create a production version of the truck. What is known though is that the truck will be hauling a novel trailer that Hyundai likes to call “a high performance refrigerated concept trailer solution” that is also referred to as the HT Nitro Thermotech trailer. The nifty trailer was developed by Hyundai Translead, a San Diego based company owned by Hyundai that specializes in manufacturing dry and refrigerated chassis, van trailers, dollies, and flatbeds.
Look for the HDC-6 Neptune to make its official debut on October 29th when it will roll onto the stage at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. We hope to have more answers at this point, but if the truck is indeed a pure hydrogen offering, it will be a big gamble by Hyundai since Tesla plans to use EV power for its beefy truck, while Nikola plans to offer both EV and Hydrogen fueled options for buyers to choose from.