Take one look at the Huntress and you’d be forgiven for thinking that you might actually be looking at a prop for a new science fiction blockbuster. In fact, the Huntress electric off-road concept car is very real, and designed by Connery Xu.
Maneuverable, electric innovation
The most striking thing that you notice first about the Huntress is its front and rear independent suspension system, and flexible front wheel design. This allows the front wheels to articulate, rising independently of each other, moving autonomously to conform perfectly to the road surface beneath. This is a big part of what makes the Huntress such a formidable off-road machine.
In fact, it’s not just the wheels that move but the entire front left and right sections including the intricately designed and unique headlight units. There’s essentially no terrain that the Huntress wouldn’t be able to tackle if built. The headlights themselves are also able to rotate horizontally to provide illumination when the path ahead is somewhat awkward.
To see the Huntress concept in its various action poses, one might assume that such a machine would be powered by a huge V8 engine, but in fact, Huntress is an electric concept, with its electric motors housed at the rear of the vehicle, where there are also two spare wheels stored.
Cutting-edge cabin design
The cabin of the Huntress features two gull-wing doors, a design that has been made popular first by movies such as “Back to the Future” and the DeLorean dmc 12 car, but also in a more modern context by vehicles such as the Tesla Model X. Inside the cabin is seating for two, but few other details are available as of yet.
Xu’s cabin exterior design is strong reminiscent of a spaceship, especially with its two rear wing-like side sections, but is clearly also designed with just the right curves and grooves to be one of the most aerodynamic and streamlined-looking off-road machines out there; a world away from the boxy offerings of cars like the Jeep Wrangler or even most pickup trucks.
Could the Huntress have a future?
While in many ways the Huntress does represent a radical departure from traditional off-road vehicle design, there’s good reason to think that such a concept vehicle could be marketable and made into a production model. It would most likely fit into an ultra-niche luxury bracket, but there would be hundreds of enthusiasts who would pay over the odds to have a chance at trying the Huntress’ unique twisting and articulating body style on the dunes of the UAE deserts, or on the forest trails of North American national parks, for example.
Best of all, and most in-line with current off-road development, is that the Huntress is electric. It works as further proof that electric cars do not have to be confined to the cities, nor should we think of them as being just suitable as city hatchbacks and sedan cars. The future of off-roading can and will be electric, too, and the Huntress may well become a part of that world.
Source: Connery Xu
