Hyundai Motor has announced that the company has partnered with South Korea’s capital Seoul to build an urban air mobility ecosystem. It adds that the new system for transportation will be commercialized by 2028.

The automaker says that the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystem will start with a vision for landing stations for the air taxis (which are being called Vertiport) and building a long-term roadmap for the sector.

Talking about the advantages that Hyundai Motors has when it comes to UAM, Song Jae-Yong, Director of the company touted 37 manufacturing facilities across 10 countries as well as its subsidiary for components, infrastructure, and finance. He also talked about the firm’s development of technologies in electric and hydrogen fuels.

In order to boost the UAM efforts, the South Korean automating giant hired Dr. Shin Jai-won in 2019 who previously worked at NASA in the United States. The company is also planning to establish a subsidiary in Washington, DC for its UAM business.

The company was previously in talks with the officials of Los Angeles to commercialize UAM and is set to demonstrate a vertiport prototype in the UK later this year. As for South Korea, Hyundai says that the transportation service will start from Gimpo International Airport to about 30 to 70 kilometers in the city.

Hyundai is aiming to offer a safe, noiseless, cost-effective, and consumer-centric Urban Air Mobility service. It’s noteworthy that other automakers, including Toyota, are also investing in this new sector.

The Urban Air Port Air-One was selected as the winner of the UK government’s Future Flight Challenge earlier this year. The program aims to develop aviation infrastructure and systems that enable the next generation of electric and autonomous air vehicles.

Recently, Archer Aviation unveiled its first electric flying taxi named Maker. The two-seater model will be used for testing as the company works towards the certification of a larger piloted five-seater that was announced in March 2020. Note that this newly unveiled aircraft isn’t the one that will be used for the planned commercial operation in 2024.

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• Hyundai Motor to buy a controlling stake in U.S robotics firm Boston Dynamics

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A few days ago, it was confirmed that Hyundai Motor is in talks with Apple for the production of the tech giant’s ambitious project of making its own autonomous driving vehicle, which is currently being referred to as Apple Car.

Now, a new report claims that both the companies — Hyundai Motor and Apple could reach an agreement for the production of the Apple Car by March this year. It also adds that the production could start as soon as 2024.

Both the companies are hoping to produce around 100,000 vehicles in 2024, claims the report coming via Reuters. Eventually, the plan is to reach the production goal of 400,000 vehicles annually.

Further, it claims that the “beta version” of the Apple Car could go into testing as soon as next year. It’s noteworthy that currently there’s no information available about the specification and features of the Apple Car.

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But, it is being reported that the company is planning to use a new special battery technology for the upcoming Smart Car. It was also reported earlier that a part of the development of components for the car will take place at Hyundai Motors’ facilities in the United States.

The timeline of making commercial cars by 2024 seems aggressive and has already been questioned by many, including notable Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Some reports indicate that it will take around 5-7 years for the Apple Car to go into production.

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Apple has been working on several new technologies but the one that is getting everyone’s attention for the past couple of weeks is the much-rumored Apple Car. The technology, which is called Project Titan, has been making significant progress.

Recently, it was reported that the company could be planning to launch its own Apple Car by 2024 but soon after that, another report claimed that the electric vehicle won’t be launched at least until 2028.

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Now, in the latest development, Hyundai Motor has confirmed that the company is in talks with Apple. Confirming this, the company said that “we understand that Apple is in discussion with a variety of global automakers, including Hyundai Motor. As the discussion is at its early stage, nothing has been decided.”

Prior to the confirmation from Hyundai, a Korean publication Hankyung had reported that the automaker will help Apple in producing electric vehicles as well as developing special batteries for the upcoming car. Also, a part of the development of components for the car will take place at Hyundai Motors’ facilities in the United States.

As we reported earlier, Apple is likely to partner with an automaker for manufacturing the so-called Apple Car as the Cupertino-based giant lacks the resources required for the production of cars. While the autonomous vehicle from Apple is still years away, it’s good to know that the project is progressing.

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South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Group has agreed to buy a controlling stake in US robot firm, Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group Corp in a deal worth $1.1 billion.

In a statement released on Friday (via), Hyundai said the purchase would fast track its expansion plans in the automation of its vehicle assembling processes in its factories and production of autonomous cars, drones, and robots, as it pursues transformation from a carmaker to a broader mobility service provider.

Hyundai said the deal, which involves a new share issue, would give the company and its Chief Executive a combined 80% stake in Boston Dynamics, with Softbank retaining 20%.

Newly promoted Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung sees the future business direction of the company would be a mix of traditional car manufacturing, robotics, and urban air transportation in the ratio of 50%:20%:30%.

Chung will own a 20% stake in Boston Dynamics, while Hyundai Motor and its affiliates Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Glovis will have a combined 60% holding in the new firm.

Softbank Group Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said the partnership with Hyundai Motor Group would accelerate the robot maker’s path to commercialization.

Boston Dynamics was an offshoot of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992 and has changed hands from MIT to Google in 2013 and then to SoftBank in 2017. It chalked up a net loss of $103 million in 2020, following declines from previous years. The transaction, subject to regulatory approvals and other considerations, is expected to be concluded by mid-2021.

For Hyundai Motor Group, this is the latest move in a seemingly well-choreographed lineup of deals under Chung, who had pledged to transform the automaker into a mobility provider.

Hyundai Motor Group announced in January 2020 that it had partnered with Uber to develop electric air taxis, although it would seem the venture was not productive, as Uber said this week it plans to sell its loss-making flying taxi unit to Joby Aviation.

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