Hyundai And Uber Made A Flying Electric Taxi

Uber and Hyundai have announced a partnership to develop a series of Uber Air Taxis for a future aerial ride share network.

The announcement, made at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020 in Las Vegas, will see Hyundai produce and deploy the flying vehicles while Uber will provide airspace support services, connections to ground transportation, and customer interfaces through an aerial ride share network. Hyundai is the first automotive company to join the Uber Elevate initiative.

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“Our vision of Urban Air Mobility will transform the concept of urban transportation,” executive vice president and head of Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Division, Jaiwon Shin said. “ We expect UAM to vitalize urban communities and provide more quality time to people. We are confident that Uber Elevate is the right partner to make this innovative product readily available to as many customers as possible.”

Hyundai has already developed a personal air vehicle (PAV) with Uber Elevate dubbed the S-A1 that uses innovative design processes to optimize electric vertical take-off and landing. The S-A1, currently on display at CES, is all-electric and has been designed for cruising speeds of up to 180 mph (290 km/h) with a cruising altitude of 1,000-2,000 feet (300-600 meters) and good for a range of up to 60 miles (96 km).

The South Korean automaker says the S-A1 will initially be piloted by a human but overtime become completely autonomous. It has been designed to seat four passengers and features many small rotors in a bid to reduce noise compared to helicopters.

“Hyundai is our first vehicle partner with experience of manufacturing passenger cars on a global scale,” head of Uber Elevate Eric Allison said. “ We believe Hyundai has the potential to build Uber Air vehicles at rates unseen in the current aerospace industry, producing high quality, reliable aircraft at high volumes to drive down passenger costs per trip. Combining Hyundai’s manufacturing muscle with Uber’s technology platform represents a giant leap forward for launching a vibrant air taxi network in the coming years.”