Hyundai’s Flying Car Initiative Takes Off

With a market opportunity expected to reach US$1.5 trillion by 2040, Hyundai Motor Group recently signaled it’s ready to enter the quest for safe, reliable flying cars by forming an urban air mobility division.

The South Korean automaker hired Dr. Jaiwon Shin, formerly an aeronautics engineer with NASA, to lead the initiative.

Head of Hyundai Flying Car Initiative

Dr. Shin was the co-chair of the White House National Science and Technology Council’s Aeronautics Science and Technology Subcommittee. In his work there, he gained expertise in airframe, engine, aviation safety, and air traffic management. These skills will guide Hyundai’s initiative in developing “smart mobility products.”

At NASA, Dr. Shin led the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate helping to shape the agency’s research and development aeronautics strategy for more than a decade.

Dr. Shin’s new group will develop the core technologies necessary to make eVTOLs a viable, reliable mode of transportation in cities worldwide.

Hyundai believes his experience working on unmanned aircraft system (UAS) traffic management, electric aircraft, and the supersonic X-plane flight simulator will give it an edge over competitors such as Uber Elevate, Joby Aviation, and Google founder Larry Page’s flying car startup, Kitty Hawk.