Its name could be one of Tobias Fünke's malaprops on Arrested Development, but Hyundai's i-Blue concept may be a reality as early as next decade. Hyundai bosses say the company's first fuel-cell car is on target for 2012, and will use technology demonstrated in the i-Blue at this year's Frankfurt show. The production model is expected to be a crossover SUV. No word whether it'll be a hit among Families with Low Self Esteem. [AutoExpress]

5:09 PM on Fri Oct 12 2007
By Mike Spinelli
880 views
13 comments

Comments

KingRoyale at 05:37 PM on 10/12/07
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Anyone else have all their comments from today not show up / deleted, even though they were appearing before...?

As to the Hyundai...nice Spyker ripoff wheels there!
dculberson at 05:44 PM on 10/12/07
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i-Blue chunks.
skaz at 06:03 PM on 10/12/07
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@KingRoyale: I had at least one vanish. I figured I was banned or something.
KingRoyale at 06:38 PM on 10/12/07
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@skaz:
I assumed the same.
That thing looks too much like the original Tribeca and the amazing Aztek.
Solo_Racer at 06:39 PM on 10/12/07
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@dculberson: Maybe they'll give it new name. i-Sook perhaps.
goatrope at 06:50 PM on 10/12/07
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The i-Blue? Why not just call it a "Lewinsky" and equip the Presidential edition with a humidor?

It has that R-Class look of showroom death about it.
Solo_Racer at 06:53 PM on 10/12/07
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@KingRoyale: The new Tribeca looks like a Chrysler was rear ended by a tropical fish in reverse. This is no where near as god-freakin' awful as the Asstek. [Note spelling :^) ]

It certainly reeks of conceptual details that will never come off an assembly line, though.
Solo_Racer at 06:55 PM on 10/12/07
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@goatrope: I heard this joke once. Bill Clinton and Michael Jordan are out golfing. Jordan pulls out a cigar and Bill fires up a pipe. Jordan asks Bill, "What's up? I thought you smoked cigars?" Bill replies, "Mike, cigars are for ... "
ranwhenparked at 08:13 PM on 10/12/07
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Very ambitious of them. OK, we've got about 3 years and some change to completely rebuild and replace the worldwide petroleum fuel infrastructure, so I guess we'd better get cracking.
skierpage at 04:28 AM on 10/13/07
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@ranwhenparked: Ahh-nold's Hydrogen Highway will be there, sort of:
"The goal of the CA H2 Net is to deploy Phase I, which is 50-100 hydrogen stations and 2,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2010."

50 stations could work for some California drivers, just as a 50-mile range electric car works for others. Generating hydrogen at home seems to have stalled, we don't hear much about the Honda FCX Home Energy Station and it's supposed to be in production in 2008.

It's pretty dumb for Hyundai to make their environmental halo car an SUV.
zarchitect at 04:38 PM on 10/13/07
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the fact that the name has an "i" in it makes me vomit iPhone-style. i-blue i-chunks i-everywhere i-from i-all i-the i-crap i-in i-everything! Yeah - what's with hydro? Why not electric? Infro is already there! Just clean up the sources (hellova' lot easier and cheaper than new installs of more flamable stuff)... Looks like the petrol industry is running this one again...
Simpsons-Movie-ruled at 06:50 PM on 10/13/07
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We are all going to be dead by then!!!!! so yea we wont get to enjoy it
Novaload at 12:16 AM on 10/14/07
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Connectedness Index: 176
Brought to you by Acura TSX

I would like to see the film on the focus groups for i-Blue. Maybe it was free association possibilities for the musical montage that tipped it--"Behind i-blue eyes" or on dirt roads: "Don't it make my i-blue brown." Just a guess. Otherwise, I'd say the car looks pre-dented and creased, which is thoughtful. And definitely in the "irradiated tadpole" category of visual appeal/gut reaction.