Hyundai says electric air taxi business will begin operations in 2028

Supernal, an advanced air transportation company under Hyundai Motor Group, has taken off its newest electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, called the S-A2, which executives said was designed. Coming to transport passengers by 2028

The S-A2 is a more fully developed version of what was intended to be commercially launched. And it confirms that, at least for now, Hyundai still intends to enter the non-existent electric air taxi business.

That timeline, announced on Tuesday during CES 2024, comes down to three years since the reveal of the Vision concept, known as the S-A1. At the time, Hyundai announced a partnership with Uber Elevate, which The company was absorbed by Joby Aviation to develop and possibly mass produce air taxis for future air ridesharing networks. Uber Elevate said it would begin flight demonstrations in 2020 and offer commercial travel in 2023.

With the eVTOL industry still lacking a single commercial operator, Hyundai's Supernal is back at CES 2024 with a more realistic plan.

And it's certainly pouring resources into the project to get there, although Hyundai has never disclosed the exact investment. Supernal has grown to a team of 600 and also leverages the technical and business capabilities of Hyundai Motor Group and Supply. aviation operators around the world to carry out the commercial launch, according to Jaiwon Shin, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of Supernal.

There's still quite a bit of work to be done before that can happen, Supernal CTO Ben Diachun said on the sidelines of the event.

The S-A2 must go through a lengthy Type 1 certification process with the Federal Aviation Administration. before it can fly commercially The company will begin testing this year in California. The vehicle is a so-called technology demonstration vehicle, Diachun said. Supernal will submit an application to the FAA this year. In 2025, Supernal will submit a compliance proposal to the FAA, he added.

nuts and bolts The plane shown on Tuesday is a V-tail design with a distributed electric propulsion architecture and eight tilt-rotor propellers. The S-A2 is loaded with redundant components such as the powertrain, flight control system, and flight systems These are all safety critical systems required for commercial aviation.

This aircraft is designed to cruise at a speed of 120 mph at an altitude of 1,500 feet. This is intended for suburban to inner city travel. They ranged between 25 and 40 miles initially.

Dai Chun said on stage: Airplanes operate at approximately 65 decibels during takeoff and landing and 45 decibels during flight. That's about the same as a dishwasher, he said. NS NS NS NS NS NS NS NS

The company's designers and engineers also create modular interiors. This includes the ability to change batteries as technology improves.