Hyundai has unveiled a modified model of its model new EV crossover, the Ioniq 9, that’s particularly supposed to conduct drone strikes to create quite than destroy life. Actually. Known as the Seed Ball Drone Station, it encompasses a absolutely tricked out drone station within the again, with the third row folded right down to arrange a management rig for the operators. The electrical automobile turns into its personal charging station for the quadcopters, too. A take-off and touchdown pad additionally folds out of the trunk, one thing that each one vehicles ought to have simply because.
The drones themselves are, actually, bomber drones. On this case, although, the payload is seed bombs, typically referred to as seed balls (Hyundai went with the latter, most likely to sound much less threatening). A seed bomb is just a small ball of clay intermixed with soil and seeds; you’ll be able to truly purchase some at your native nursery. Toss one in a backyard, and after a short time, you will have new growths.
Why would Hyundai care about gardening? It would not — but it surely does care about foresting. The concept of the Seed Ball Drone Station is that it’ll drive into forests which have simply suffered a wildfire after which deploy drones to reseed onerous to entry areas. That is all a part of the corporate’s charitable initiative, the Ioniq Forest mission, which desires to assist with reforestry efforts everywhere in the world. Ioniq Forest is energetic in 13 international locations proper now, together with the U.S., so do not be shocked for those who see a Korean EV rolling by your nearest burn zone quickly.
Electrical automobiles are right here to save lots of the planet (once more)
A part of the entire pitch of EVs is that they’re inexperienced. That is at all times been a little bit of a stretch, in that zero emission would not truly assist the planet, it simply would not harm it. With its Ioniq Forest mission, although, Hyundai is seeking to truly, actually make the world just a little greener (and promote its vehicles within the course of).
To that time, the Ioniq 9 Seed Ball Drone Station is definitely becoming a member of its smaller EV cousin, the Ioniq 5, which has had a Monitoring Drone Station variant since 2023. The latter has “carried out forest monitoring and knowledge assortment actions” for the Korean authorities’s wildfire response efforts. Hopefully, cellular drone stations like these will change into a part of restoration efforts extra extensively. Precision drone bombing has been honed in some fairly horrible conflicts around the globe; I might prefer to see that tech utilized in a extra constructive manner. Actually regrowing the Earth is a reasonably good begin.