Hyundai Motor and Uber Announce Aerial Ridesharing Partnership, Release New Full-Scale Air Taxi Model at CES

Hyundai is the first Uber Elevate partner with manufacturing capabilities to mass produce Uber Air Taxis

Hyundai's UAM (Urban Air Mobility) will vitalize cities by enabling on-demand urban air mobility in Uber's Elevate Network

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor Company and Uber have today announced a new partnership to develop Uber Air Taxis for a future aerial ride share network and unveiled a new full-scale aircraft concept at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Hyundai is the first automotive company to join the Uber Elevate initiative, bringing automotive-scale manufacturing capability and a track record of mass-producing electric vehicles. The air vehicle concept Hyundai released today was created in part through Uber's open design process, a NASA-inspired approach that jump-starts innovation by publicly releasing vehicle design concepts so any company can use them to innovate their air taxi models and engineering technologies.

Media images of Hyundai's air vehicle concept are available here.

In this partnership, Hyundai will produce and deploy the air vehicles, and Uber will provide airspace support services, connections to ground transportation, and customer interfaces through an aerial ride share network. Both parties are collaborating on infrastructure concepts to support take-off and landing for this new class of vehicles.

"Our vision of Urban Air Mobility will transform the concept of urban transportation," said Jaiwon Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai's Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Division. "We expect UAM to vitalize urban communities and provide more quality time to people. We are confident that Uber Elevate is the right partner to make this innovative product readily available to as many customers as possible."

"Hyundai is our first vehicle partner with experience of manufacturing passenger cars on a global scale. We believe Hyundai has the potential to build Uber Air vehicles at rates unseen in the current aerospace industry, producing high quality, reliable aircraft at high volumes to drive down passenger costs per trip. Combining Hyundai's manufacturing muscle with Uber's technology platform represents a giant leap forward for launching a vibrant air taxi network in the coming years," said Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate.

For more information about Aerial Ridesharing Partnership, please visit Hyundai Motor's News Room: globalpr.hyundai.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1061030/Partnership_Press_photo1_UAM.jpg