Hyundai Motor Company is working alongside Incheon International Airport Corp (IIAC), Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co and KT Corp in order to accelerate the development of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and begin test flights as soon as possible.
The four companies aim to commercialize Urban Air Mobility by the year 2028. Hyundai unveiled its first aerial concept vehicle, which featured eVTOL tech, at CES 2020.
What eVTOL stands for is “Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing”, which is necessary in order to make urban air travel a reality.
Back in June, the Korean government announced the Korean UAM Roadmap, which included the UAM Grand Challenge – a joint demonstration project aimed at studying the construction and operation or vertiports (airports for UAM vehicles).
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Going forward, Hyundai will look to develop the UAM business and secure business cases, while IIAC will establish the infrastructure and study feasibility of utilizing these vehicles as airport shuttles. Meanwhile, Hyundai Construction will strive to build the vertiports as well as the transit hubs that will eventually connect to other means of public transportation.
As for the KT Corp, they will set up a communications infrastructure and make business cases for UAM as a mobility service.
“The breadth and depth of this partnership shows what it will take to build a comprehensive UAM ecosystem to serve megacities like Seoul,” said Hyundai Motor Urban Air Mobility division boss, Jaiwon Shin.
“Building a robust infrastructure and business model is just as important as developing innovative UAM vehicles. This partnership demonstrates Hyundai’s commitment to facilitating progress for humanity by ushering in a new era of urban air mobility that will revolutionize transportation.”
