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• The Hyundai Crater Concept is a serious off-roader, with skid plates, lockers and 33-inch all-terrain tires.
• It’s just a concept, but it shows that Hyundai is finally getting serious about off-road capability.
• It’s packed full of cool details and flourishes, too, and some of them will likely inspire future off-road Hyundais.

Hyundai sales in the U.S. have exploded over the last decade and a half. The brand has made inroads with affordable, well-designed products packed with standard features, a strategy that has gotten it this far. But if it wants to match the volumes and profit margins of companies like Ford and Toyota, it needs to conquer America’s final frontier: the wilderness. That’s where the Crater concept comes in.

Hyundai Crater Concept

Photo by: Hyundai

See, Americans love their off-road trucks and SUVs. While sedan sales have cratered and performance cars like the Camaro and Mustang have faded in relevance, halo models like the Ford F-150 Raptor and Jeep Wrangler have exploded in popularity, as bread-and-butter crossovers have effectively eliminated sedans from mainstream consideration.

Ford knows that having the Raptor helps it sell more base F-150s and Rangers, and the Wrangler sells Cherokees and Wagoneers. Hyundai—with a stable of slighly rugged soft-roading XRT models—needs an off-road halo, something to prove it’s serious. And this little crossover riding on 33-inch all-terrains should do the trick. And this concept gives us a good idea of what to expect next. 

Hyundai Crater Concept

Photo by: Hyundai

What Is It?

The Crater Concept is about the size of a Toyota Rav4, but purpose-built for wheeling. That means it gets those knobby tires, skid plates, a low-range mode and all of the requisite off-road lights. It packs all of this into a rugged, fun looking body, painted a greenish-gold to represent the California wilderness where Hyundai tests its off-road models. 

Gallery: Hyundai Crater Concept

The Crater gets the same digital pixel camouflage as the Ioniq 5 XRT, too, which signifies that it, too is an EV. While Hyundai makes gas-powered, adventure-oriented XRT models like the Palisade XRT Pro, the company says the pixel design is exclusive to electric Hyundai XRTs.

Unfortunately, though, “it’s electric” is all the company says about the powertrain. Though there were knobs inside for low range and locking differentials, this whole thing is more of a design study than a real car.

The Ioniq 5 XRT is the first adventure-oriented electric Hyundai. But while it has enough clearance for your average fire road, it’s not going to handle anything too steep or slippery. 

Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs

Still, it features some neat touches that could come to future Hyundais. First off, the anodized recovery hooks are etched with a little, knob-toothed face, which the designers call “Crater Man.” This little mascot can be spotted all over, from the buckles holding up the cool, cylindrical dash centerpiece to the end caps of the dash itself.

Hyundai says this was inspired by the mascot the company designed for its “Insteroid” film, a sign that cute little flourishes and cartoon characters could be used to bring some life to future Hyundai products.

This lil fella is “Crater Man,” the mascot of this concept.

Photo by: Hyundai

Speaking of which, the Crater’s interior feels more lively than just about any other EV. There are four small, square displays, each with its own little animated character. They can be used to control games, or for widgets like Spotify, and can even be detached if you’re using them with, say, Camp Mode.

Speaking of which, there are actually four camp modes, each of which triggers a different audio theme and a different background animation on the pillar-to-pillar head-up display. One, for instance, shows a crackling fire, while the other shows a perimeter view that tracks wildlife or intruders coming into your camp. 

The interior is the highlight of the Crater concept.

Photo by: Hyundai

All of this sits in an interior designed around a new design theme the brand calls “Curve of Upholstery.” The idea is that every touch point is covered in plush, curving upholstery, while the functional elements are blocky, tough and mechanical. I doubt the built-in fire extinguisher or trunk-mounted turntables will make production, but I would expect this mix of soft padding and tough metal to make it into future off-road Hyundais.

So, Can I Buy It?

Hyundai Crater Concept

Photo by: Hyundai

No. The Crater Concept is just that, and Hyundai would not say a word about whether or not it was coming to production. Naturally, there’s no way all of this could come to production—the roof lights and camera mirrors wouldn’t be legal here, and they’re not going to launch a passenger vehicle with a full roll bar intruding into the back seat—but as for the overall size and shape, it makes sense.

Subaru has had plenty of success with tidy off-road models like the Crosstrek, and since EV prices scale exponentially with battery size, there’s a good reason to opt for a smaller crossover rather than a giant truck. That’s also a market where Hyundai could outflank competitors; While Ford F-150 buyers may not be likely to swap to a Hyundai truck, I’d imagine compact crossover buyers are much more willing to go Hyundai, especially if it looks cool. 

Hyundai Crater Concept

Photo by: Hyundai

Regardless of what they look like, though, more capable off-road Hyundais are coming, I’d wager. The brand showed off the Crater in its Irvina, California design center, which now has an entire room dedicated to off-road car culture. The walls are covered in enough climbing, hiking and camping gear to fill an REI, and there are giant off-road tires stacked up around the place. These are not the kind of modifications you make to a design center for a one-off concept.  

Photo by: Hyundai

This will, of course, be home to future XRT models. But after driving the Ioniq 5 XRT—with its limited ground clearance, horrendous breakover angle and lack of a spare tire—I think Hyundai needs to go further if they want to seriously challenge Subaru, let alone Ford or Jeep.

The Crater looks like the next step in that journey. I don’t think it’ll be the last one.

Contact the author: Mack.Hogan@insideevs.com.