Purpose-built vehicles (PBVs), also known as purpose-built mobility, are vehicles made for very specific purposes. The PBV’s distinct purpose sets it apart from the typical passenger car. Commercial vehicles such as taxis, minibuses, cargo vans, small trucks, and refrigerator trucks can be classified as the forerunners of the PBV.
So why the term “PBV?” How does a PBV differ from conventional commercial vehicles? For one, PBVs are a step forward from commercial vehicles in terms of mobility. Cars, taxis, buses, cargo vehicles – all of these vehicles have designated spheres in which they provide mobility. But with the continued unprecedented advances in digital technology, automobiles today can be regarded as digital devices, placing us in the era of multi-modal mobility, a means of mobility which integrates different modes of mobility to maximize efficiency.
“Multi-modality” refers to the combination of different methods and also of different avenues of sensory perception. An example of multi-modality technology is OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4o, a groundbreaking AI technology which integrates voice, image, and text inputs and outputs. In transportation, multi-modality refers to the integration of different modes of transport to achieve the optimum mobility of passengers and cargo.
When Google Maps tells you how to best reach a destination through a combination of different types of public transit, this is a basic form of multi-modal mobility. For instance, you could get to your destination most efficiently by boarding a bus at a nearby stop and then transferring to the subway. In the coming years, multi-modal mobility will advance to encompass urban transport (public transit, taxis, etc.), wide-area transport (high-speed trains, air travel, etc.), and personal mobility (electric scooters, bicycles, etc.), getting you from A to B on a single route supported by different modes of transport.
PBVs are an element of urban transport. Conceptually, PBVs share roots with urban air mobility (UAM). At CES 2020, Hyundai unveiled its vision of UAM in the form of the S-A1, a small vertical take-off and landing aircraft that takes passengers to and from air terminals in cities. From air terminals, passengers can get to their final destinations via a PBV called the S-Link, another Hyundai creation. The S-Link is a shuttle equipped with the amenities found in restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, pharmacies, hospitals, and other facilities, which passengers can access on the way to their destinations. The S-Link is a green vehicle with self-driving capabilities. A wide variety of PBVs can serve as the S-Link.
PBVs are primarily electric vehicles (EVs). That is what definitively sets PBVs apart from body-on-frame vehicles with internal combustion engines. The electrical architecture of battery EVs gives them more room to spare than internal combustion engine vehicles. This is achieved by positioning the front and rear wheels as close to the ends of the car body as possible, and by the replacement of the engine room, a large unit filled by the powertrain and other mechanisms, with a smaller electrical motor housing. That means more room for passengers and cargo. Also absent from EVs is the transmission, drive shaft, and other systems traversing the vehicle body, allowing for a flat floor in the cabin, another plus for spatial utility.
Thanks to such structural merits of the EV, PBVs can be designed for a wide range of purposes. With enough cabin space set aside for the driver, the rest of a PBV can be laid out liberally based on the vehicle’s particular purpose.
Cabins of individually-owned cars evolve over time to suit the individual; on the other hand, PBVs have set purposes in their mobility. They need to get passengers or cargo from A to B, or they might need to be more flexible in movement, such as to provide healthcare services to as many people as possible, for example. Once the purpose of a PBV has been decided, the making of that PBV is quite simple: a custom-made body is mounted on an EV platform.
Throw autonomous driving into the equation and the PBV will soar in efficiency since the driver’s space can now be used as space for passengers, cargo, and services. It’s true that autonomous driving will revolutionize road travel. Once the fully self-driving car equipped with the most advanced of cameras, sensors, and AI technology becomes reality, the driver will no longer have to control the car; instead, they will be able to join the other passengers in the car in leisure activities.
Inspired by endless possibilities, since the mid-2010s carmakers have come up with concepts for all kinds of self-driving vehicles. Some of those were akin to a hotel, while others boasted a social environment like that of a nightclub. It was around that time the concept of demand-responsive transport (DRT) was also introduced. DRT uses autonomous driving technology for greater flexibility in the transport of passengers and cargo, and can be thought of as the origin of the PBV.
In a self-driving car, the cabin space is the most important differentiator. The inside of a self-driving car is used as space for consuming various types of content. Get in a car that drives on its own, and the range of content at your disposal for consumption becomes infinite. You could work on your laptop, use social media, or watch streaming content, all while receiving updates on your travel progress. Naturally, in study models of autonomous cars, the creation of a content and display user environment in the cabin has been the focus of development.
Seats in the cabin been designed to serve many more functions compared to the past. For instance, they should allow passengers to face each other for convenient dialogue, enable comfortable sleep during long trips, and even provide a completely independent entertainment space.
>In PBVs the seats need to perform specific functions. The cabins of PBVs are designed not so much for individual convenience but for maximum spatial efficiency that aligns with the purposes of the individual PBV. PBVs for taking passengers around town will need compact seats that can fold away, while long-distance PBVs will need spacious and comfortable seats that can double as a bed, like the first-class seats on flights. For PBVs to be used as food trucks, seats for just the driver and front passenger will suffice, while PBVs to be used as delivery vehicles would be best stripped of their seats in order to hold as much cargo as possible.
The PV5, a Kia PBV that debuted at the CES 2024 in January, features an archetypal seating system for passenger PBVs. A Hyundai Transys creation, the seats come with backrests that flip forward and back as needed to maximize spatial efficiency. With a minimized volume, a sliding function for passenger convenience in entry/exit and added spatial efficiency, as well as a simple structure, the Hyundai Transys seats in the Kia PV5 are an innovation that is ready for immediate market launch.
The Hyundai Transys seats are Hyundai’s responsive PBV seat concept. Introduced at UX Tech Day 2022 in Korea, the responsive PBV seat senses its occupant’s body and adjusts in form to provide the optimum support and comfort. The responsive PBV seat technology can be applied to long bench-type seats to optimally accommodate multiple passengers seated in a row. This is a major advantage for PBVs that constantly need to accommodate passengers of varying numbers and sizes, as it enables comfortable travel for all passengers.
The HTVM21, a prototypical multi-modal mobility seating system from Hyundai Transys that was unveiled at UX Tech Day 2022, is an assembly of seating technologies designed with the diversity of passengers in mind. The ten seating technologies of the HTVM21 include a vital signs analysis technology to assist older passengers, people with disabilities, and pregnant women. A mechanical function is also present that optimizes the efficiency of the cabin space for families traveling with children. Through the HTVM21, Hyundai Transys demonstrated how mobility space is changing and should change to meet the needs of the coming era of autonomous driving. More recently, Hyundai Transys introduced the HTVM24, a step up from the HTVM21, which features a variable seating structure consisting of popup seats, hidden seats, and other seating innovations for maximum spatial utility to meet diverse passenger needs.
Advances in PBV seating technology to come will give us mobility convenience at a level never seen before. Ultimately, the direction in which the PBV is headed, with adaptive seating, autonomous driving, AI, and other cutting-edge technologies, is a personalized travel experience. Before long, you might find yourself stepping into a self-driving vehicle and sinking into a seat that has been automatically adjusted for optimal comfort, then interacting verbally with an AI assistant before unwinding with a movie or TV show on a large, augmented reality display on the window.
■ Automotive Journalist Kim Hyung-joon
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