Hyundai accelerates air taxi effort

Hyundai will offer services around its air taxis rather than just selling them.

That’s what the South Korean automotive manufacturer’s chief operating officer Jose Munoz says at the Reuters Events’ Car of the Future conference on June 14 and 15.

Hyundai is ahead of its timetable for the rollout of urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles (aka flying cars), Munoz saying that could now happen before 2025.

The battery-powered air taxis can carry five or six people, generally planned to take them from urban centres to airports, and can also carry commercial cargo.

Others such as Toyota, General Motors, Daimler and Geely, are developing flying cars as well.

The UAM market could reach US$1 trillion by 2040, according to some reports, but certification and regulation remain a barrier.

Hyundai’s air taxi unit is based in Washington, and it has pledged to invest about US$1.5 billion in urban air mobility by 2025, also partnering with Uber on air taxis.