Photo: Hyundai Motors US
Hyundai says Supernal LLC, their new advanced air mobility (AAM) unit, will represent the company’s development of passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.
The aim is said to be that Supernal will conduct its first commercial flights in 2028.
U.S.-based Supernal is a spinoff meant to lead company efforts to develop eVTOLs and was originally formed as a unit of Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility Division. That division was tasked with creating a concept craft called the S-A1. Already in advanced development, that plane is expected to start the certification process with U.S. regulatory agencies as of 2024 and it’s an electric-powered, piloted or autonomous vehicle capable of carrying four to five passengers along urban and suburban routes.
Supernal’s Chief Technology Officer, Ben Diachun, says the development efforts are focused on completing a commercially viable Advanced Air Mobility product from the ground up.
“Our growing team, which includes veterans of aerospace, automotive, and other deep-tech industries, is engineering sustainable vehicles that have the potential to evolve how we live, work, and play,” Diachun said
The plan is for Supernal to create a wide range of aerial vehicles, with initial commercial flights scheduled to begin in 2028. Hyundai says large-scale production and marketing of those planes will begin early in the 2030s as the vehicles gain public acceptance.
Now that Supernal has been organized as a stand-alone division, Hyundai says it will now incorporate some 50 different companies Hyundai created as part of its transformation from an automotive group into a “diversified mobility technologies” company. Supernal says the brief includes integrating AAM vehicles into current transit networks.
Hyundai sees passengers using a single app to accomplish multi-leg journeys, which might include a ride in a chauffeured car, perhaps a jaunt via urban rail, and ending in a hop on an eVTOL at a “vertiport” to complete a trip across a city.
“In adding a new dimension to mobility, we are on a mission to transform how people and society move, connect and live. We have bold ambitions at Supernal, but being first to market is not one of them,” says Jaiwon Shin, Chief Executive Officer of Supernal and President of the Hyundai Motor Group. “Being part of that larger Hyundai empire will afford Supernal advantages independent AAM startups can only dream of. Once the crafts are ready for manufacturing, Supernal will be able to rely on Hyundai’s mass production capabilities to scale output.”
U.S.-based Supernal is a spinoff meant to lead company efforts to develop eVTOLs and was originally formed as a unit of Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility Division. That division was tasked with creating a concept craft called the S-A1. Already in advanced development, that plane is expected to start the certification process with U.S. regulatory agencies as of 2024 and it’s an electric-powered, piloted or autonomous vehicle capable of carrying four to five passengers along urban and suburban routes.
Supernal’s Chief Technology Officer, Ben Diachun, says the development efforts are focused on completing a commercially viable Advanced Air Mobility product from the ground up.
“Our growing team, which includes veterans of aerospace, automotive, and other deep-tech industries, is engineering sustainable vehicles that have the potential to evolve how we live, work, and play,” Diachun said
The plan is for Supernal to create a wide range of aerial vehicles, with initial commercial flights scheduled to begin in 2028. Hyundai says large-scale production and marketing of those planes will begin early in the 2030s as the vehicles gain public acceptance.
Now that Supernal has been organized as a stand-alone division, Hyundai says it will now incorporate some 50 different companies Hyundai created as part of its transformation from an automotive group into a “diversified mobility technologies” company. Supernal says the brief includes integrating AAM vehicles into current transit networks.
Hyundai sees passengers using a single app to accomplish multi-leg journeys, which might include a ride in a chauffeured car, perhaps a jaunt via urban rail, and ending in a hop on an eVTOL at a “vertiport” to complete a trip across a city.
“In adding a new dimension to mobility, we are on a mission to transform how people and society move, connect and live. We have bold ambitions at Supernal, but being first to market is not one of them,” says Jaiwon Shin, Chief Executive Officer of Supernal and President of the Hyundai Motor Group. “Being part of that larger Hyundai empire will afford Supernal advantages independent AAM startups can only dream of. Once the crafts are ready for manufacturing, Supernal will be able to rely on Hyundai’s mass production capabilities to scale output.”
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