APD | South Korean carmaker to produce flying taxis for Uber

By APD writer Alice

South Korean carmaker Hyundai has announced that it would produce flying cars for Uber's aerial rideshare network, which is set to be launched in 2023.

The agreement between the two sides was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which is taking place in Las Vegas, the US from January 7-10.

Accordingly, Hyundai will produce the four-passenger electric "vertical take-off and landing vehicles" at "automotive scale”.

The partnership could help Uber realize its goal of deploying air taxi service in a series of cities by 2023.

Speaking at a press conference at CES, Jaiwon Shin, head of Hyundai's urban air mobility division, said he expects that the partnership will allow short-range air taxis to be "affordable for everyone".

Meanwhile, Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate, said: “By taking the transportation out of the two-dimensional grid on the ground and moving it into the sky, we can offer significant time savings to our riders."

Uber said Melbourne of Australia and Dallas and Los Angeles of the US have been selected to be first cities in the world to offer Uber Air service, with the goal of beginning demonstrator flights in 2020 and commercial operations in 2023.

At CES, Hyundai will show its S-A1 model aircraft with a cruising speed up to 180 miles (290 km) per hour.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)