Flying cars that take off vertically will be in UK streets within ten years, says Hyundai’s UK chief
UK streets should brace themselves for flying cars as a senior automotive chief claims they will be deployed within the next ten years.
Michael Cole, the president and chief executive of South Korean car maker Hyundai’s UK and European operations, said the technology will cut congestion and emissions.
Speaking at a conference organised by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Cole said “we think that by the latter part of this decade certainly, urban air mobility will offer great opportunity to free up congestion in cities, to help with emissions, whether that’s intra-city mobility in the air or whether it’s even between cities.”
The term ‘urban air mobility’ includes delivery of goods by drones and electric vehicles acting as flying taxis.
Vertical take-off and landing
Hyundai unveiled a prototype of an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft at the CES technology show in Las Vegas in January 2020.
Cole went on: “It’s something that we’re making some very significant investments in now, and we believe it really is part of the future.
“If you’d asked me a few years ago were flying cars something that I would see in my lifetime, I wouldn’t have believed it. But it’s part of our future solution of offering innovative, smart mobility solutions.”
It was announced in January that the world’s first fully operational airport for flying cars and delivery drones will open in Coventry later this year.