Nick Mokey / Digital Trends
While its prosy automotive variance have beenstewing up hydrogen from sewageanddeveloping modular van , Hyundai Motor Group ’s ( HMG ) advanced air mobility company , Supernal , has had some lofty plan of its own . On Tuesday , the first day ofCES 2024 , Supernal reveal the S - A2 , an galvanising perpendicular pasquinade and landing ( eVTOL ) aircraft design to get around traffic by shuttling commuters on jaunts of 20 to 40 nautical mile in urban areas .
“ The SA-2 takes the best of an airplane , a good fluid in - flight experience , and immix it with the good of a eggbeater – comfort station , and the ability to take off and bring vertically , even in impenetrable urban environments , ” said Supernal CEO Jaiwon Shin . “ It ’s truly the unspoilt of both worlds , and it ’s a powered by a battery : well-situated convenient and sporting . ”
The V - seat aircraft iterates upon theSA-1 conceptshown at CES 2020 . It use a amount of eight rotor , which swivel up and down to help the aircraft take off vertically , then forward when cruising for efficiency . celestial claims it will cruise at up to 120 miles per hour , and contact an altitude of 1,500 feet .
A glassy cockpit and body , inspired by the eyes of a bee , is intended to give both pilot film and passengers an unobstructed view of the surroundings below . Inside , the S - A2 can accommodate up to four passengers in modular seats , which are designed to be reconfigured on the tent flap . consort to Shin , the squad start with 100 designs before whittle it down to just one , which balances redundancy with efficiency .
Overcoming the relatively lowly mogul density of innovative batteries in an covering that is notoriously thirsty for power presented an applied science challenge for Supernal . According to Ben Diachun , Supernal ’s main engineering police officer , the S - A2 requires the same amount of power on liftoff as a caraccelerating from 0 to 60 in two seconds , but the S - A2 must sustain that output for 30 seconds . Despite that prodigious office use , Supernal exact it emits just 65 decibels on mockery – no louder than a modern dishwasher . To account for anticipated progression in battery technology , the aircraft has a modular design that should allow for constant upgrade .
Supernal will operate the S - A2 out of so - call vertiports – hubs in heavy urban areas . It project to achieve the same safety standard used in commercial air power , and work with government air power authority to develop operating operation .
If all goes well , you could see the S - A2 skimming along metropolis skies in 2028 , but Supernal has n’t yet detailed which markets it will establish in .
