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Flying cars will exist in cities by 2030 according to Hyundai's Europe chief

2021-06-30T17:14:00-04:00

According to South Korean car manufacturer, Hyundai, flying cars will exist in cities around the world by the end of this decade.

At the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) conference, a trade association for the United Kingdom motor industry, Michael Cole, the president and chief executive of Hyundai’s European operations, said the company has made “very significant investments” in urban air mobility.

“We think that by the latter part of this decade certainly, urban air mobility will offer great opportunity to free up congestion in cities, to help with emissions, whether that’s intra-city mobility in the air or whether it’s even between cities.”

Developing its urban air mobility program is part of Hyundai’s mission to become a provider of smart mobility services, which includes the creation of more efficient electric vehicles.

In January 2020, Hyundai unveiled its flying car concept, developed alongside Uber, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The eVTOL,...

Uber reveals six "Skyport" designs for its flying taxis

2018-05-11T16:06:00-04:00

If Uber is to get its “flying taxi” service off the ground, it will need dozens of launchpads and landing sites on rooftops around cities as a supportive infrastructure. At the ride-hailing company’s second annual Elevate conference in Los Angeles, six architecture firms presented their winning designs of what these so-called “Skyports” could look like. And holy cow, these things look straight out of Star Wars.

It was all futuristic sky towers, helipads, and beehive references this week when six architecture firms presented their "uberAIR Skyport" design proposals for Uber's autonomous flying taxi service in the not-too-distant future.

According to the call for proposals, all facilities needed to be able to handle 4,000 passengers an hour within a three-acre footprint, provide charging spots for all the eVTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) aircrafts, and minimize environmental impact on adjacent neighborhoods.

The selected firms and proposals are:

↑ Gannett Fleming: "The Paw"

↑ Pickard Chilton and Arup: "Sky Tower"

↑ Corgan: "Connect"

↑ The Beck Group: "The Hive"

↑ BOKA Powell: "Skyport Prototype"

(Cover picture) Humphreys & Partners: "Uber Hover"

Watch the archived live stream of the entire Uber Elevate Summit design presentation here.

Uber and NASA team up to create 'flying taxi' by 2020

2017-11-10T16:12:00-05:00

Teaming up with NASA is a big deal for Uber. First, it allows the company to tout the approval of the highly regarded space agency to skeptics. [...] Holden said that Uber wouldn’t have to wait for 2020 before it starts testing things out IRL. The company aims to begin operating a fleet of low-flying helicopters around Dallas-Fort Worth Airport — while working with air traffic controllers to not encroach on their flight paths —as a way to test NASA’s UTM system.

Uber has teamed up with NASA to create an aerial taxi service called UberAIR. Los Angles was just announced as a city now working with the company to host their program along with Dallas-Forth Worth and Dubai. At least 19 other companies are currently developing flying car plans.

Check out Uber's newly released video giving a taste of what the experience would be like.