Hankook’s HPS-Cell sweeps top three design awards by winning IDEA 2021

Tyre maker Hankook wins the Automotive and Transportation category at the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2021. This year, the Hankook Platform System (HPS)-Cell has also won the iF Design Award as well as the Red Dot Design Award. The HPS-Cell is a modular platform, which was presented at Hankook Tire’s Design Innovation 2020 project. This achievement makes Hankook the winner of all three of the world’s most renowned design awards in one year.

Neu-Isenburg, Germany, 14^th October 2021 – Premium tyre maker Hankook was recognized as a finalist in the Automotive and Transportation category at the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2021 for its innovation project work, ‘Hankook Platform System (HPS)-Cell’. Hankook’s HPS-Cell has previously won the Red Dot Design Award in the Mobility and Transportation category at the Red Dot Design Award: Design Concept 2021 in July and was announced as the winner of the iF Design Award 2021 in the Professional Concept category in April.

The award-winning HPS-Cell is a modular platform proposed through Hankook’s Design Innovation project, a research project on smart cities and future mobility. Through joint research, the project puts forward a vision for future driving and solutions that tackle today’s challenges.

HPS-Cell was unveiled in November last year as an outcome of the Design Innovation 2020 project. Under the theme ‘Urban Reshaping’, the project visualised transformation of cities geared by mobility reconfigured as part of living spaces rather than a stand-alone vehicle in a future where augmented automation infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies such as eco-friendly technology, autonomous driving and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are to be adopted.

HPS-Cell is a modular platform based on the tyre, the foundation of the mobility. The HPS-Cell tyre is an airless tyre with a unit cell structure. It uses sensor technology to not only detect tyre profiles and road conditions in real time, but also to respond to wear risks and change the tyre profile according to road conditions by using variable wheels and optimised infrastructure. It’s applied with ‘Hankook Innovative Performance (H.I.P)’ which represents the company’s technological breakthroughs.

“We are truly honoured to receive the IDEA design award with HPS-Cell. This year, by winning all three prestigious awards, we have once again proven our world-class design competency,” says Jimmy Kwon, Vice President of Hankook Tire’s Brand Lab. “Moving forward, we plan to actively explore innovative designs through continuous R&D investments and joint projects to lead the mobility of the future.”

The IDEA, organised by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), is one of the top three most reputable international design awards along with the Red Dot Design Award and the iF Design Award. The best design is selected every year through comprehensive evaluation of various judging criteria including design innovation, user experience, and benefit to society.

About Hankook Tire

Hankook Tire manufactures globally innovative, award-winning radial tyres of proven superior quality for passenger cars, light trucks, SUVs, RVs, trucks, and buses as well as motorsports (circuit racing/street circuits/rallies).

Aspiring to bring consumers the utmost excellence in product quality, technological excellence and driving satisfaction, Hankook Tire continuously invests in research and development maintaining five R&D centres and eight production facilities around the world. Bespoke tyre solutions for the European markets as well as European Original Equipment according to the requirements of leading premium car manufacturers, are developed in the company’s regional Technical Centre in Hanover/Germany. Production for the European region is taking place in the state-of-the-art manufacturing site in Rácalmás/Hungary which was inaugurated in June 2007 and is continuously being expanded.

Hankook Tire’s European headquarters are located in Neu-Isenburg near Frankfurt am Main in Germany. The manufacturer operates further branches in several European countries and sells its products through regional distributors in other local markets. Hankook Tire employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide and sells products in over 160 countries. The company has been the technical partner and exclusive tyre supplier of the Generation 3 for the FIA ABB Formula E World Championship since 2023. Internationally leading car manufacturers rely on tyres made by Hankook for their original equipment. Approximately 38 percent of the company's global sales are generated within the European region.

For more information please visit www.hankooktire-mediacenter.com or www.hankooktire.com

Hankook Tire Europe GmbH | Marketing Communications Europe | Siemensstr. 14, 63263 Neu-Isenburg | Germany

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At the heart of the vision is the tyre maker’s two-wheeled, modular mobility device, the “Hankook Platform System (HPS)-Cell”. Serving as an autonomous and two-wheeled platform, the HPS-Cell is an electronic vehicle using “Hankook Electric Mobility Technology (H.E.M.)”.

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The HPS-Cell runs on an airless tyre and uses sensor technology that identifies tyre treads and road conditions in real-time, as well as responding to wear-out risks and changes tread patterns according to the road condition, using variable wheels and optimised infrastructure.

File size: 720 KB