Hyundai is working on a futuristic car technology that would transform cars' ability to navigate tight roads and parking spaces.
Its e-Corner System can turn sideways, travel diagonally and rotate around its own centre, something standard steering systems are not able to do.
Hyundai Mobis developed the technology and showed it on a modified Hyundai IONIQ 5. The system allows each wheel to control the direction and movement of the vehicle, so many unusual driving modes can be experienced.
Crab Driving is one of the most amazing functions. For this mode, wheels can be turned up to 90 degrees and the car can move sideways.
It would make parallel parking easier in the future. Not having to keep going forward and backward in order to get in the parking space, the car could just move sideways into the space that was there.
The system also supports Zero Turn. The wheels are turned in different directions so that the car can rotate around its own centre without any movement from where it was parked.
It would work well in small areas and on restricted roads and in other places where a normal car would not be able to turn around.
And so Hyundai has shown Diagonal Driving. The wheels are angled so that the car goes diagonally; not forward and backward. It could be used if the car is in a busy place or to get around obstacles.
Hyundai Mobis also had a Pivot Turn feature. This allows the vehicle to rotate around a specific point, and is a way of maneuvering when space is limited.
The technology works by controlling the wheels on an individual basis. The e-Corner module comprises an in-wheel motor, electric brake, electric steering system and damper.
Since the components can operate independently on each wheel, the vehicle is able to move with a much wider range of movement than cars with steering from a conventional system.
Hyundai built car tech that can crab walk, move diagonally and make zero turns pic.twitter.com/tSMKpmRUdd
— S.T.E.M Explorer (@stemexplor) September 2, 2026
But there is more to this technology than parking. Hyundai Mobis is also connecting the technology to the future of self-driving and purpose-built vehicles in which flexible mobility might be possible.
The company also demonstrated the idea in its new vehicle, the so-called MOBION concept, the concept of independently controlled wheels in a city’s transportation system that could open up new doors for the firm with new mobility options.
But e-Corner technology is still an example of demonstration and future mobility development rather than a standard feature of Hyundai’s passenger car range today.
When it does come to mass-market vehicles, such a system needs to be tested and integrated.
If the technology does make it to production vehicles, then everyday driving could look very different. Parking in extremely tight spaces, turning around on narrow roads and moving through crowded urban environments could become much easier.
Thus Hyundai’s e-Corner System shows a glimpse of the future of cars that are not restricted to steering in the conventional way.
It’s not just turning left or right to move forward cars would go in more than one direction to go forward and rotate in a way that’s closer to robots than traditional cars are.
