Genesis, Hyundai’s luxury brand, just revealed its first full-size, three-row electric SUV for the US market, the GV90. And arguably it has some of the wildest designs and features in the auto market today.
Right off the bat, the coach-style doors signal that things aren’t what they seem with the GV90. When the front and rear doors open outward, the B-pillar disappears, creating an extra-large opening into the vehicle — because you’re the kind of person who can afford it.
Genesis is calling it the Neolun Arch Gate, “the world’s first independently opening and closing hidden B-pillar coach door.” But it’s more than just that.
To be sure, as the middle post between the front and back doors, the B-pillar is critical for vehicle safety. This is the vertical metal support needed as reinforcement against roof collapses during roll over.
The B pillar also absorbs crash energy during a T-bone collision. And here’s Genesis being like, “What if we got rid of it for the biggest possible entrance into the vehicle?”
1/4Thankfully, Genesis doesn’t dismiss the safety implications of a B-pillar-less vehicle. The company claims to have created a new structure that “seamlessly marries the doors to the vehicle body while maintaining the highest safety standards.”
It replaces the B-pillar with “high-strength dual steel beams” selected for their rigidity that joins the doors and body and “effectively disperses collision forces.” 5 times thicker than conventional vehicles and fortifying it with integrated high-strength steel tubes and structural foam.
This hidden roll cage structure protects occupants while achieving crash safety performance equivalent to vehicles with conventional B-pillars. Whether or not this meets the standards for safety will be up to the regulators and third-party groups that test these things for a living.
If the GV90 passes its crash tests with flying colors, we’ll know that the new architecture works. And that really could open up a new door (pun definitely intended) of what’s possible with vehicle designs.
If it fails those tests, the GV90 could become a footnote in the book on misguided vehicle designs (right next to the Fiat Multipla, with its two-tiered upper cabin that made it look like a car stacked on top of another car). Genesis didn’t stop at coach doors, though.
