Hyundai New Horizons Studio (NHS), a unit focused on the development of Ultimate Mobility Vehicles (UMVs) (earlier post), will open a new Research, Development and Lab Center in Bozeman, Montana. NHS Bozeman is an estimated $20-million investment in Hyundai’s Progress for Humanity vision, redefining transportation with accessible, sustainable and smart mobility solutions.

UMVs are designed to assist in natural resource management, disaster management, all-urban and rural logistics, construction, mining and space resource development. The all-new facility will serve as NHS headquarters and will support prototyping, field testing and application development for UMVs.

Located inside Montana State University’s (MSU) Innovation Campus, New Horizons Studio’s all-new Bozeman facility will focus on:

• Product design and development
• Market research and assessment
• Testing operations
• Composted material development and testing
• Next-generation vehicle architectures
• End-user/commercial production and smart assembly

New Horizons Studio plans to add more than 50 full-time jobs at the location over the next five years. Many of the positions will be in the research and development space and will target expertise in mechanical hardware, electrical and electronics engineering, and materials and manufacturing.

The estimated 12,000 to 15,000 sq. ft. facility will be part of MSU’s 42-acre Innovation Campus development which is home to many technology and bio-tech businesses.

The Industry Building that will house NHS Bozeman will break ground starting in June 2022, while the first R&D office officially opens in June 2022.

At NHS Bozeman, the team will initially focus on refining the development, testing and deployment of two UMV models. The first is an uncrewed transforming intelligent ground excursion robot (similar to what was revealed at CES in 2021) designed to carry various types of payloads while traveling over treacherous terrain.

Elevate concept revealed in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2019.

The second, inspired by Elevate, is a larger (size of a two-person ATV) vehicle with robotic legs that can address challenging driving situations and potentially save lives as the first responder in natural disasters.