South Korea’s largest auto parts supplier Hyundai Mobis has unveiled what it calls the ‘world’s first’ airbags specifically designed for ‘Purpose Built Vehicles’ (PBVs – a Hyundai term).
It has unveiled a door-mounted curtain airbag, which deploys vertically from the bottom to the top within 0.03 seconds of an accident, and its self-supporting passenger airbag, which absorbs impact solely through the support from the lower part of the airbag.
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Both of these technologies aim to prevent passenger ejection (from the vehicle after a collision), and significantly reduce injuries during collisions or rollovers.
The firm says with the anticipated commercialisation of PBV-based fleet services, the demand for passenger safety technologies in this sector is expected to increase.
Lee Kyu-Sang, Head of Safety System R&D Group at Hyundai Mobis said: “We developed the new concept curtain airbag with the urban transportation-focused PBV market in mind.”
Hyundai Mobis says it is focusing on the scalability of airbags for PBVs with plans to develop and introduce a variety of airbags tailored to diverse interior designs.
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By GlobalDataAccording to its 2024 Sustainability Report, the company has obtained 3,000 patents related to future mobility over the last three years, with most in automotive technology.
Hyundai says that ‘PBVs’ typically involve OEMs designing, manufacturing, and selling highly customised vehicles according to customers’ application needs. It says purpose built vehicles (PBVs) target future demand for “custom tailored” mobility products including large autonomous buses for urban public transport and vehicles for urban delivery.
