At CES 2020, Motor Company Hyundai has upped the ante by announcing a flying taxi S-A1 for offering Uber rides. Hyundai has recently teamed up with Uber to mass-produce electric vehicles.
The new S-A1 has been designed as a part of NASA inspired Uber's Open Design process and is supposed to transform the concept of shared rides globally.
The Hyundai S-A1 has been designed to offer Uber trips up to 60 miles (100 KM) at a cruising sped of up to 180 miles/hr (290 km/hr). The air fleets could fly up to a cruising altitude of approximately 1,000-2,000 feet (300 - 600 meter) above ground.
The S-A1 boasts a cabin which can accommodate the driver alongside four individual passenger seats. The space between each seat would ensure the passengers won't have a problem for keeping their own belongings or while boarding or disembarking the ride.
The new Hyundai flying taxi is an electric vehicle which could offer multiple rides in a single charge and would take around five to seven minutes for recharging. Hyundai has asserted that the S-A1 would be driven by a pilot during the initial stage. After a period of its succession, they all would be capable of flying autonomously.
Under the hood, the Air fleet features several rotors and propellors around the airframe to avoid occurrences of any single point failure and thus increasing safety for the riders. Unlike the existing commercial air-fleets rotors, the rotors featured in the S-A1 would be smaller to decrease the noise inside and outside the flight.
The Hyundai S-A1 comes with an innovative design to optimize the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for up-in-the-air ridesharing purposes.
"We're looking at the dawn of a completely new era that opens the skies of our cities," said Jaiwon Shin, head, Urban Air Mobility, Hyundai. "With point-to-point air travel, we can reduce travel time drastically."
The all-new aircraft has claimed to offer aerial rides for Uber by 2023.
