Hyundai joins Uber in flying taxis venture

Uber and Hyundai are teaming up to build a fleet of flying taxis.

Eric Allison (left), Head of Uber Elevate, and Jaiwon Shin, Head of Urban Air Mobility at Hyundai, talk about the S-A1 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft at the Hundai news event where Hyundai announced it's partnership with Uber to create an air taxi network. Picture: AFP)

Uber and Hyundai are teaming up to build a fleet of flying taxis.

Uber, the ride-hailing giant, said its four-passenger “Uber Air Taxi” would initially be piloted, but over time would become autonomous.

Uber says it wants to conduct flight demonstrations this year and make such vehicles commercially available in 2023.

The goal is to help riders breeze over traffic in shared air taxis between suburbs and cities and eventually within cities. Uber plans to launch the aircraft in Dallas, Los Angeles and Melbourne. The air taxis, which look like a cross between a helicopter and a small aeroplane, will be all-electric.

The air taxis are designed to take off vertically and cruise at speeds up to 290km/h. They’re designed to fly up to 97km at a time.

While Uber has been working on the air taxi concept for years, Hyundai brings to the project a company with experience manufacturing cars on a global scale. The companies said Hyundai would produce and deploy the vehicles while Uber provided airspace support services and connections to ground transportation.

Uber will not own the air taxis, but the aircraft will be permitted to operate as part of Uber’s transportation network.

AP