Hyundai has decided to add its name to the growing list of automakers and technology companies competing to develop flying taxi to fly in the skies of the largest cities in the world. The South Korean company has opened a new department in its organization, called Urban Air Mobility, and hired a former NASA engineer, Dr. Jaiwon Shin.
At Hyundai, Shin and his team are faced with the challenge of developing the core technologies that support the company’s future aircraft. While Hyundai has not announced when it intends to show the work of the newly formed division to the public, the company emphasized that the investment in 2019 will pay off in the long run.
According to Hyundai forecasts, in the next 20 years, the Urban Air Mobility division will grow and will have a capitalization of up to $ 1.5 trillion. Hyundai’s prediction does not seem quaint, given that urban aircraft are created in Uber, Volocopter, Lilium and a number of large companies, including Boeing and many others.
It is too early for Hyundai to reveal specific details about the vehicle (or vehicles) it plans to develop, but the creation of the Urban Air Mobility section indicates the seriousness of the project. Shin’s team will focus on resolving traffic problems in major cities around the world, possibly with electric, autonomous, aircraft, passenger transport.
The automaker’s management admits that it’s already not even in the top ten developers of aircraft, but hopes that Shin’s experience in developing supersonic X-plane, electric aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles will help Hyundai gain an advantage over its competitors.
