기아, 미래형 차량 ‘하바니로’ 공개

기아차의 새로운 전기 컨셉트카인 ‘하바니로(Habaniro)’가 17일 오전 개막한 뉴욕 오토쇼에서 세계 최초로 공개됐다.

기아차 미국법인(KMA)은 이날 미래형 전기차(EV)인 하바니로를 소개하며 “전륜구동과 4개 좌석, 1회 충전으로 300마일 이상을 운행하는 놀라운 차”라고 강조했다. 하바니로는 특히 세계 최고수준인 레벨5 자동운전 모드와 스포츠카를 방불케 하는 나비날개 모양의 도어를 갖췄으며 디자인과 유용성, 창조성, 성능 모두가 미래형 자동차로서 손색이 없다는 평가를 받고 있다.

톰 컨스(Tom Kearns) 기아 미국디자인센터(KDCA) 디자인담당 부사장은 “복잡한 도심의 거리를 운행하는데 괘적함을 주는 것은 물론 해변도로나 오프로드를 달릴 때도 불편하지 않은 차를 만들기 원했다”면서 “하바니로는 실험실에서 구상된 첨단기술이 도로 위에 직접 구현된 차로 우리 디자인팀도 완성품을 보고 놀라움을 금치 못했다”고 설명했다.

마이클 콜 KMA COO 겸 수석부사장은 “하바니로는 천재적인 기술과 상상의 집결체이며 이를 완성한 디자인센터가 너무나 자랑스럽다”고 말했다.

하바니로는 컴팩트급 크로스오버 차량으로 전기차 가운데 가장 우수한 주행성능과 함께 대담한 붉은색인 ‘라바 레드(Lava Red)’가 페인트된 에어로 패널이 특색인 C-필라가 가장 눈에 띈다. 그릴은 상어를 연상케 하는 도전적인 모습이며 전기차 섀시 덕분에 가능한 휠 배치로 전체적으로 넓고 안정된 모양을 갖췄다.

모델명인 ‘하바니로’는 기아의 기존 차량이 니로(Niro)에서 파생된 느낌을 주는 동시에 매운 고추인 하바네로(Habanero)와 비슷해 기아차는 ‘스파이시(Spicy)한’ 차량이라는 컨셉트로 마케팅을 벌여나갈 것으로 보인다.

 

하바니로 컨셉트카

뉴욕 오토쇼에서 하바니로가 공개되고 있다. /사진제공 KMA

 

<MEDIA RELEASE>

KIA HABANIRO CONCEPT HEATS UP MANHATTAN

 

Spicy New Vision for the Future of Electric Vehicles

• Imagined and created at Kia’s California design studio, versatile and inventive auto creates a whole new category of mobility – “The Everything Car” or ECEV
• Bold, imaginative design and high-tech features combine to present the future of automotive interaction

NEW YORK, April 17, 2019 — Today Kia Motors America (KMA) unveiled its vision of the future of electric vehicles and it’s hot.  And spicy. The HabaNiro concept is a fully-electric, all-wheel drive, four-seat wonder car with an All Electric Range (AER) of more than 300 miles, level-five autonomous mode, butterfly wing doors and more advanced tech than what helped land men on the moon. But this is no fanciful supercar that will likely never be built, but a prescient look into the future of mobility where automobiles will seamlessly integrate design, capability, usefulness and creativity.

“We wanted this concept to be comfortable navigating city streets, carving turns on a coastal road and off-roading with confidence to remote wilderness adventures,” said Tom Kearns, vice president of design for Kia Design Center America (KDCA). “We imagined a car for everyone and nearly everything. Then, when we saw the finished product, we were blown away by the imagination of the HabaNiro’s creators and its laboratory of technology and we want it in our driveways. Today.” With its rugged 20-inch wheels, short overhangs and big haunches, the HabaNiro exudes coiled muscularity and capability, whether you’re on a grocery run, en route to a meeting or in search of a remote fishing hole.
“We couldn’t be more proud of our design center,” says Michael Cole, KMA chief operating officer and executive vice president. “The HabaNiro is a genius work of skill and imagination. Not only does its beautiful design incorporate the needs of future mobility, but its engineering and technology anticipate the way people will want to move in the near future.”

A Whole New Category of Vehicle
The HabaNiro is a compact crossover utility vehicle only in terms of existing industry category language. But the HabaNiro can’t be so easily defined. It’s essentially an all-electric Everything Car or ECEV – commuter, crossover, sport utility, state-of-the-art technology workroom and adventure vehicle.

An Exterior to Move You
The HabaNiro design is defined by the energetic interplay between the protective metallic grey cladding that encompasses the front wheels and extends onto the body sides and the bright “Lava Red” aero panel that defines the C-pillar and extends up and over the roof. These two elements create a vibrant energy and a forward-leaning posture that suggests the HabaNiro is ready to launch. This latent forward energy is reinforced by the single elegant character line that wraps around the front end, extends through the shoulder, and ends dynamically pointed at the rear wheels.

The HabaNiro grille resembles a shark’s snout, complete with a slit-like gap full of gloss black aluminum “teeth” similar to the cooling blades found on high-end electronic equipment. The EV chassis architecture allowed the wheels to be pushed to the corners, giving the HabaNiro its wide and confident stance.

Satin aluminum skid plates, milled billet aluminum tow hooks, anodized Lava Red aluminum accents, and the embossed HabaNiro name complement the upscale look while suggesting the vehicle’s adventure-ready attitude. Perhaps most importantly, the heartbeat pulse of the daytime running lights announces the HabaNiro’s animated energy – “I’m alive.”

An Interior to Transport You and an Array of High-Tech Features
The scissor-like opening of the HabaNiro’s four butterfly-wing doors hints at its future-forward interior design. The Lava Red interior suggests passion and vibrancy. Modern and airy, the interior is accented by the bouclé fabric-trimmed front seats that appear to float within the spacious cabin. Contributing to the interior’s clean and modern appearance is the absence of rectangular screens and traditional control knobs and buttons. Instead, the HabaNiro features a full-width front windshield Heads-Up Display (HUD) system controlled by a concave acrylic instrument panel that is a large interactive touchpad display with Sensory Light Feedback (SLF). Technical Option Sharing System (TOSS) allows users to swipe and move vehicle options across the HUD screen as though moving chess pieces.

HabaNiro’s occupants are kept comfortable by a slim Perimeter Ventilation System (PVS) that quietly and evenly blows a curtain of air throughout the cabin. A soft ambient glow shines through the bold geometrically-patterned floor, creating movement that reflects onto surfaces within the cabin. The Lighting Color Effect (LCE) can be dimmed or brightened, and the hue can be modified to impact the mood of the interior environment.

When HabaNiro’s part-time level-five autonomous driving system is engaged the steering wheel and instrument panel retract forward to provide more room for the front occupants. Media or other entertainment, such as a movie for a long highway haul, can be displayed on the full-width HUD video system.

HabaNiro features Kia’s new Real-time Emotion Adaptive Driving (R.E.A.D.) System introduced earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show. R.E.A.D. can optimize and personalize a vehicle cabin space by analyzing a driver’s emotional state in real-time through artificial intelligence-based bio-signal recognition technology. The technology monitors the driver’s emotional state and tailors the interior environment according to its assessment – potentially altering conditions relating to the human senses within the cabin and in turn creating a more pleasurable and safer driving experience.

R.E.A.D. also enables the HabaNiro’s Eye Tracking System (ETS) with 180° rearview video display. The system uses AI-based emotional intelligence to monitor when the driver looks up to the top of the windshield where conventional rear view mirrors are traditionally located. The AI immediately senses the driver’s need to see behind the vehicle and instantly activates the 180° rearview video display.

There are no immediate plans to utilize AI to sense when the driver is hungry and then direct to the nearest drive-through where an order will be waiting, but the technology may someday evolve to make just such a task possible. AI and automation shouldn’t take the joy out of driving, as some auto lovers fear, but should enhance it – anticipating needs so we can concentrate on the driving experience.

Into the Future
 Some will assume the HabaNiro concept will never be built, but we don’t advise betting the farm on it. In the past 18 months, Kia has launched two vehicles, the Stinger and the Telluride, from concepts that fully captured the public’s imagination. The HabaNiro’s butterfly doors? Maybe not today, but the future is an exciting place and Kia is ready to lead the automotive industry into this spicy world of possibility.

The Details

• Dimensions
  • Length: 4430 mm/ 171 inches
  • Height: 1600 mm/ 63 inches
  • Width: 1955 mm/ 77 inches
  • Wheelbase: 2830 mm/ 111.5 inches
• Powertrain and battery
  • e-AWD supplied by two electric motors, fore and aft
  • 300+ mile All Electric Range (AER)
  • Advanced state of the art battery technology
• Exterior Features
  • Snowdrift Pearl White tri-coat exterior paint
  • Satin Metallic Granite Grey cladding
  • Anodized “Lava Red” aero panel
  • 265/50R20 tires
• Interior Features
  • Heads-Up Display Features:
    • Navigation system with augmented reality graphic directions
    • 180° rearview video display in place of physical mirrors
    • Full windshield entertainment video system with surround sound
    • 3D speed readout display
    • Full width acrylic touch panel with Sensory Light Feedback (SLF) with Technical Option Sharing System (TOSS) feature provides interaction with HUD
  • AI-based R.E.A.D. technology
  • Eye Tracking System (ETS) enables 180° rearview video display

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