TAILGATE PARTY TRICK: Will Hyundai-Kia’s new sliding tailgate spell the end of the traditional top-hinged design?
HYUNDAI and Kia have filed a patent for a sliding liftgate with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent application describes an SUV rear door that works like a sliding door, only it runs along rails and up onto the roof.
Obvious benefits of the design are a lower overall clearance height with the tailgate open, and not having to step back from the door to give it clearance to swing open – a boon in tight car parking spaces.
On the downside, we imagine it’s not as good for sheltering beneath when it’s raining.
According to the USPTO application:
“(The) sliding tailgate includes a moving main body configured to be located on at least a rear surface of a vehicle, roof levers located at both side ends of a front portion moving main body and configured to be moved along roof rail units, titling units configured to rotate the roof levers thereabout so as to tilt the front portion of the main moving body, rail units configured to be located on a vehicle body and coupled to roller units located at the rear end of the moving main body so as to provide a moving trajectory of the rear end of the moving main body, drive units located on the moving main body and configured to apply force to the roller units, and a controller configured to receive a request for opening the main moving body”.
Filed over 12 months ago (January 2021), the sliding tailgate design as only just come to light courtesy of Nissan Z Forums.
One of the several images posted of the design shows the tailgate retracting within the roof skin of the vehicle, consuming the space usually reserved for a sunroof. From the remaining design images, it’s possible to see how the design would operate on either a people mover of SUV bodystyle, the large panel requiring and equally large roof space in which to be concealed once open.
Like many folding hardtop designs, the sliding tailgate appears to feature several hinged points, linkages and a motor or motors synchronised to retract the panel in sequence into and out of its opened position. The tailgate would likely be secured with electro-mechanical servos once in place, like those of an automated sliding door on up-spec people movers.
While neither Hyundai nor Kia has flagged which vehicles the sliding tailgate may find its way into, the likelihood that larger SUVs such as the Carnival, Santa Fe, Telluride and Palisade could opt for such a design is not beyond the realms of imagination. It may also be a useful addition to ever-taller people mover models like the Carnival and Staria, both of which currently feature a top-hinged tailgate in MPV configuration.
It’s also conceivable that the sliding tailgate could make its way into Staria Load light commercial vans, though the added complexity and cost associated with the design may mean it’s passed over by cost-savvy fleet owners.
Keyword: Hyundai and Kia patent roller tailgate