Hyundai’s sleek Prophecy concept hints at future EV flagship

Hyundai’s new concept EV, the Prophecy, hints at the brand’s future design language with a drop-tail four-door that manages to be both sporty and elegant. With its short overhangs, and six-bladed wheels pushed way out to the corners of the car, it leaves lots of open cabin space, though the rear seat headroom looks a bit compromised by the sloping roof. Par for the course.

SangYup Lee, Head of Hyundai Global Design Center, says the Prophecy embodies “Optimistic Futurism.” What we see is some Bauhaus inspiration combined with a more fluid, futuristic sculpting that brings the luxury car trend of four-door “coupes” to a more mainstream brand in a gorgeous package that, hopefully, proves that the future isn’t all tall crossovers.

From some angles, the Prophecy looks more like a four-door 911 than even the Taycan or Panamera. The prominent rear spoiler, made from transparent acrylic, certainly doesn’t hurt the resemblance.

A lovely side effect of the smooth body is a low coefficient of drag, helping to eke out every bit of range from the electric powertrain—which Hyundai didn’t elaborate on. Instead, it chose to highlight the Prophecy’s novel interior and driver interface. To take advantage of the concept’s spacious cabin, the driver will operate the vehicle using a pair of joysticks when the vehicle is not driving autonomously. This design allows the dashboard to remain low, giving passengers an unobscured view out the windshield.

Hyundai currently fields an electric Veloster in Pure ECTR, an electric touring car racing class, and has also shown that they’re committed to internal combustion performance as well. As their current sporty offerings merge with this new design language, Hyundai should keep buyers interested and competitors on their toes.