Hyundai Unveils The Crater Concept: A Playful Off-Roader With Serious Capability

The off-roader we need and also deserve

Hyundai just unveiled its new CRATER Concept to the masses at the LA Auto Show, and I was fortunate enough to attend a media preview at the automaker’s Irvine design studio a few weeks back. To say I was blown away by what Hyundai made here would be putting it mildly. In short, they took a serious off-roader with the capabilities you’d find in any mainstream vehicle made for when the going gets rough, and gave it something that many lack: a fun, playful personality. Let me walk you through it and show you what I mean.

Cyberpunk takes on the off-road scene

The new CRATER concept blends off-road ruggedness and stark futurism in a way I can only imagine Cyberpunk 2077 doing. The exterior is blocky and chiselled, with nary a curve in sight. Hyundai calls this “The Art of Steel,” a process that “transforms the strength and flexibility of steel into a language of sculptural beauty.” It makes it look as if the CRATER was chiselled out of a single piece of steel, giving it a tough, almost brutalist-inspired vibe. The pixelated lighting elements carry throughout the CRATER, from the thin headlights to the equally thin taillights. Hyundai has also added welcome animations to the pixelated quad lightbar setup, giving it a playful attitude when approaching or departing from the car.

The off-road details start with the wide skid plate that runs across the CRATER’s underbody, as well as with the rugged flared fenders at each corner, which are finished in an urban-camo aesthetic that matches the car’s overall vibe. The skidplate ends in two prominent, orange tow hooks at the front, one of which doubles as a bottle opener and carries the face of “CRATER MAN,” Hyundai’s playful mascot for the concept that makes several Easter Egg-like appearances throughout the body and cabin. All of this is finished in a color dubbed “Dune Gold Matte,” inspired by “California’s coastal terrain, where sun-faded sagebrush and golden grasses meet rugged cliffs and windswept canyons.”

Look higher than the fenders and you’ll find a pair of limb risers, two cables that stretch from the front fenders to the roof rack to sweep low-hanging branches away from the body. Speaking of the roof rack, it’s equally as blocky and chiselled as the rest of the CRATER, and should serve as a perfect off-road storage companion for gear and other equipment.

Rounding out the exterior are 18-inch hexagonal wheels, which are best described by Hyundai’s own marketing language. Seriously, this is such a playful description of them that I’d hate to put it in my own words. The Korean automaker claims the wheels were inspired by an “asteroid impacting a sheer metal landscape, leaving a fractal crater in its aftermath.” Hell yeah, is the only reply I have to that.

An interior for the 22nd century

If you thought the exterior was cool, you’re not ready for this cabin. Stuck somewhere between a cyberpunk rave and the padded seats of a wild rollercoaster, this interior has more features to unpack than an overstuffed checked luggage at the TSA. The Art of Steel design idea carries on to the dashboard, which Hyundai describes as inspired by a bent metal sheet, with a perforated tubular structure that runs across, letting the bright red LEDs underneath create an almost post-apocalyptic vibe throughout.

Three customizable square displays in the center act as infotainment centers, showing items like the radio, descent and ascent angles, and vital information like outside weather, altitude, oil temperature, and transmission pressure. Beneath them are physical HVAC controls, shaped like vertical cogs that give a tactile, mechanical feel which would make any touchscreen interface weep. The squircle steering wheel hosts terrain mode switches, including Snow, Sand, Mud, Auto, and XRT, with a prominent center-mounted pixel display that scrolls to show you your current drive mode and other driver interactions.

This tubular structure that houses the gear controls and steering wheel is held up by fabric straps with bright orange clasps, further adding to the off-road feel and reminding me of the straps on a high-end hiking backpack. The driver’s side end is also occupied by another depiction of CRATER MAN, aptly lit by red LEDs.

The black leather front and rear seats are made up of oval and circular padded cushions, with a similarly padded “center console” that runs from the front to the rear of the cabin. This is where my rollercoaster-like comparison stems from, with a four-point seatbelt system ensuring all passengers remain secure on rough, off-road jaunts. Throughout the cabin is an exposed yet functional roll cage that “provides a reassuring feeling of safety, reinforcing that CRATER Concept is built for confident exploration and resilience.”

Other off-road-ready features include a first-aid kit on the passenger’s side, a fire extinguisher on the driver’s side, and a center console speaker that doubles as a removable Bluetooth speaker for those late nights camping on the trail.

Final thoughts

To say that the CRATER Concept is the off-roader we need in today’s automotive market would still somehow be downplaying its influence. Far too many factory-built vehicles designed for the dirt nowadays take on a serious, drill sergeant-like aesthetic that leaves little room for plain ol’ fun. As we’ve seen with other cars like the Ioniq 5 N and the N Vision 74, Hyundai isn’t afraid to blend in a healthy amount of whimsy into its vehicles, and I’m here for it.

The CRATER Concept shows that serious off-road chops and playfulness are not mutually exclusive, and it’s safe to say that we haven’t seen anything quite like this since maybe the Isuzu VehiCROSS. I highly doubt the CRATER will make it past the concept stage, but if Hyundai does decide to release it, I hope they can carry over as many of this concept’s elements into the production vehicle. It’s a groundbreaking way to do an off-roader, and I want CRATER MAN to follow me wherever I go. Props to the design and the engineering teams at the Hyundai America Technical Center in Irvine, CA, y’all knocked it out of the park from every angle.