05 August 2020 || 4 min read
Urban-Air Port Ltd and Hyundai Air Mobility (a Hyundai Motor Group division) have announced a collaboration effort to create smart mobility solutions that put people first, connect communities, and generate shared value.
Hyundai has recently focused additional resources on enhancing its product line up to help usher in a more sustainable future, while offering innovative solutions to real-world mobility challenges. Through the process, the multinational automotive manufacturer aims to facilitate ‘Progress for Humanity’ with smart mobility solutions that vitalize connections between people and provide quality time to its customers.
To achieve this, Hyundai has partnered with Urban-Air Port Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of small. (Six Miles Across London Limited). small. consists of a group of UK based Urban DeepTech companies focusing on Future Mobility; Urban.AV (Autonomous Vehicles), Urban.MASS (Mass Transit) and Urban-Air Port. In total, Hyundai plans to invest $1.5B in UAM over the next five years to create an air vehicle and the supporting mobility ecosystem for UAM operations. Whilst vehicle development is crucial and underway, an urgent need for appropriate ground infrastructure remains one of the biggest constraints on the growing sector, according to NASA and industry leaders.
“As part of Hyundai Motor Group, our Air Mobility division is intent on supporting the development of human-centred cities through innovation,” said Dr. Jaiwon Shin, Head of Hyundai Air Mobility.
Hyundai’s and Urban-Air Port’s goals in this partnership are fully aligned – transforming cities for the better by creating a versatile infrastructure that enables future mobility, vitalises urban communities, and expands access to transportation services and the green economy. Pamela Cohn, COO of Hyundai Air Mobility, said “There is often a strong focus on the vehicles, but without coordination and investment in other parts of the ecosystem, UAM is just a flying science project. Infrastructure is one of the crucial areas of the broader ecosystem that will bring aerial mobility to communities around the world. We are excited to partner with Urban-Air Port and UK communities to explore what this infrastructure of the future will look like.”
Ricky Sandhu, CEO of Urban-Air Port said: “We are extremely proud to announce our partnership with Hyundai Air Mobility as we embark on bringing together world-class electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle OEMs, passenger and logistics service operators and our physical & digital infrastructure in our unique, flexible and sustainable turn-key “Air-OneTM” approach that we believe will help unlock and propel a clean, future UAM mobility ecosystem both here in the UK and around the world for multiple sectors.”
Off-shore floating Urban-Air Port® for Air Taxi Services. Credit // Urban-Air Port Ltd.
Hyundai Air Mobility and Urban-Air Port plan to invest in development of a full-scale prototype for live eVTOL demonstrations. Two UK cities have already signed on to support development in 2021, including what will be UK’s 1st, Coventry in the West Midlands, which will host UK City of Culture 2021 and the Commonwealth Games.
Why it’s important: This partnership highlights Hyundai’s ambition for a future mobility ecosystem by adding infrastructure to their existing industry partnerships. The Urban-Air Port® design has a 60% smaller footprint than a traditional heliport or nearest-state-of-the-art ‘vertiports’, allowing for quick and easy installation in space-limited urban sites. Its modular flat-pack structure results in a cost-effective, transportable and rapidly deployable new form of infrastructure that is impressively capable of providing both passenger/cargo processing/amenities and vehicle charging/maintenance facilities.
Source // Urban-Air Port press release
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