Uber and Hyundai have joined forces to develop a flying taxi – and you could be hailing one within three years.
The tech giants unveiled the futuristic electric air taxi concept at the CES technology conference in Las Vegas this week.
Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate, said: “We’ve been making steady progress towards a goal of launching Uber Air by 2023.”
The self-flying electric car is designed to carry up to four passengers with a pilot and fly on trips of up to 60 miles (100 km).
It will be 100% electric, and during peak hours will need around five to seven minutes to recharge, according to Hyundai.
And while the air taxi will initially be controlled by a pilot, Hyundai believes that in the near future, the vehicles could be autonomous.
As part of the partnership, Hyundai will produce and deploy the air taxis, while Uber will provide airspace support services, connections to ground transport, and the customer interface.
Mr Allison added: “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.”
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According to Uber, the air taxis will initially launch in three cities – Los Angeles, Dallas, and Melbourne.
Once the taxis are up and running, they could help to alleviate the pain of sitting in a traffic jam.
Jaiwon Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Urban Air Mobility Division at Hyundai Motor Company, added: “We are looking at the dawn of a completely new era that will open the skies above our cities.
"Urban Air Mobility will liberate people from grid-lock and reclaim time for people to invest in activities they care about and enjoy.”
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