Hyundai intends to begin serial production of a wide range of flying cars in 2028. The head of the new division of urban air transport of the South Korean brand Shin Jaewon told Bloomberg about this.
According to the specialist, at the moment, the company is developing aircraft for 5-6 passengers for large city agglomerations, as well as their more spacious versions, which will run between cities.
“People who are constantly idle in traffic jams will soon become convinced of how comfortable flying cars are. When this happens, we expect an explosive increase in demand, ”said Zhewon.
As a reminder, in September 2019, Hyundai announced the creation of a new division specializing in urban air transport. Its leader was Shin Jaewon, who had previously been doing aeronautical research at NASA for about 30 years. The company then noted that soon the air taxi service would become one of the essential transport systems, which will reduce the load on the road network in the largest cities of the world.
In early 2020, Hyundai and Uber unveiled a concept for a new mode of transport called UAM (Urban Air Mobility). Its main idea is to create a massive network of small air transport sites in large cities, which will not have to be in traffic jams. Self-driving cars will run between them, with the help of which it will be possible to quickly get to the house or back to the UAM station.
Besides, Hyundai demonstrated an experimental S-A1 flying car within the framework of the project. It is a compact tiltrotor - an apparatus with rotary screw engines, which provide lifting force during vertical takeoff and pulling units during horizontal flight. The air taxi can accommodate up to five people and has a speed of up to 290 km / h at an altitude of 300 to 600 meters. For emergencies, a company placed a parachute descent system onboard.