CES 2020: Hyundai to reveal its flying car

Some brands like Mercedes-Benz will use next month’s Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas to reveal their most advanced electric vehicles, but Hyundai will go one step further by unveiling its first concept Personal Air Vehicle (PAV).

The South Korean announced its entrance to the fledgling flying car industry in October with the formation of its Urban Air Mobility (UAM) division and it’s already ready to take the next step with not only a PAV, but a PBV.

The latter stands for Purpose Built Vehicle and Hyundai says it will connect people from their homes or work places to the Hub, where a PAV will take urban commuters further afield in cities of the future.

“This highly customizable concept with autonomous driving feature allows for limitless possibilities to turn the vehicle to be more than just a means of transportation,” said Hyundai.

“These two smart mobility devices will come together at the Hub, which will be located throughout cities in the future and used as community spaces.

“The use of airspace is expected to alleviate road congestion and give back quality time to city commuters.”

Hyundai is the latest car-maker to present its vision for future transport via autonomous, electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles.

It follows Toyota, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, PorscheBoeing and Geely, plus a range of others including Airbus, Google and Uber, which has promised to operate robotaxis in Melbourne from 2020.

The idea behind VTOL vehicles is to cut travel times in built-up areas as well as to reduce ground-level congestion and air pollution.