Hyundai Motor Company announced its win of four accolades at this year’s GOOD DESIGN Awards. Hyundai’s two most progressive EV concepts, 45 and Prophecy, together with the all-new 2021 Hyundai Elantra and the Hyundai Hi-Charger, an ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure, were recognized in the Awards’ Transportation category.
“Hyundai’s design vision to provide lifestyle mobility that coexists with people's lives has been recognized by winning these awards,” said SangYup Lee, Senior Vice President and Head of Hyundai Global Design Center. “Especially through our EV design, we would like to forge a strong emotional connection between humans and automobiles, giving more value to our customer’s everyday life.”
The 45 EV concept, first introduced at the International Motor Show 2019 in Frankfurt, is a futuristic homage to Hyundai’s iconic Pony Coupe Concept. The styling of 45 is defined by its monocoque-style form, aerodynamics, light-weight design inspired by aircrafts, and diamond-shaped silhouette.
Earlier this year, the 45 shone under the spotlight at other world-renowned design competitions, including the 2020 International Design Excellence Awards, 2020 Red Dot Awards, and the iF Design Award 2020. Such accolades raise expectations of the upcoming release of IONIQ 5, Hyundai’s first dedicated EV in the new IONIQ lineup brand launching next year.
The Prophecy, unveiled last March, is Hyundai’s visionary concept that signifies a direction of future EV styling based on the Sensuous Sportiness design identity. It expands on the era-defining example set by the 45 EV concept that stripped away complexity in favor of clean lines and minimalistic structures. Prophecy won ‘Best of the Best’ in 2020 Red Dot Awards’ Design Concept group, and the concept was also named a finalist for 2020 International Design Excellence Awards.
Another big win went to the all-new 2021 Elantra, which made its debut earlier this year. The seventh generation Elantra offers a futuristic and innovative look and feel, thanks to its Parametric Dynamics design elements. The vehicle’s exterior design is adorned with unique style features including a parametric-jewel-pattern grille and a H-tail Lamp that creates a Hyundai “flying H” logo-like shape. The interior further complements the Elantra’s overall appeal with a 10-inch information-display cluster and infotainment system.
The Hyundai Hi-Charger demonstrates the brand’s commitment to offer a completely new charging experience to EV owners. The 350kW ultra-fast charger enables users to easily power their EVs without feeling the weight of connectors and cables. The user simply chooses the position of a vehicle’s charging port on a digital screen, and a connector automatically rotates and descends to the selected point for an effortless connection. Earlier this year, the Hyundai Hi-Charger won a prize in the User Experience Design category of the 2020 Red Dot Design Awards.
Celebrating its 70th anniversary, the GOOD DESIGN Awards program is one of the oldest design competitions in the world. Every year, the program selects a list of products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have chartered new directions for innovation and pushed the envelope for competitive products in the world marketplace.