The Future of Mobility Is in the Air: Toyota and Hyundai

The future of mobility could be in the air. Automakers and large tech companies are either investing or creating joint ventures with startups that promise to conquer the skies. Whether this companies achieve it or not, the race has just begun.

2020 saw two large Asian automotive companies, Hyundai and Toyota, embarking in the quest to develop air vehicles. In January, Toyota announced its collaboration with Joby Aviation, an aerospace company developing what they called an "all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL)" vehicle. "As we take up the challenge of air transportation together with Joby, an innovator in the emerging eVTOL space, we tap the potential to revolutionize future transportation and life. Through this new and exciting endeavor, we hope to deliver freedom of movement and enjoyment to customers everywhere, on land, and now, in the sky," said Toyota Motor Corp. President and CEO Akio Toyoda in a statement.

We hope to deliver freedom of movement and enjoyment to customers everywhere, on land, and now, in the sky.”

Akio Toyoda, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corp

Joby is a company born in 2009 in San Francisco. For over eight years the company developed and tested its prototype of eVTOL. Then, funding from companies such as Intel and JetBlue started to arrive. As it aimed to enter the manufacturing stage, in January 2020, Toyota announced its leading investment of US$394 million in Joby. According to the Japanese giant, Joby is "ready to serve the needs of an emerging air transportation market." Thus, Toyota will provide its manufacturing, quality and cost controls expertise.

Joby is not the only start up aiming to develop eVTOL or pursuing air mobility, but it is the first one to receive major support from a large automaker. Other companies with a similar offering to Joby are Volocopter; Vahana, with a joint venture with Airbus; Kitty Hawk, supported by Boeing and more recently, the German start-up Lilium. Notably, Lilium has raised, amidst the COVID-19 situation, a US$240 million investment as of March. The leading investor is the Chinese technology group Tencent. Lilium intends to continue with large-scale production of a five-seater eVTOL to build a city-to-city taxi service in 2025.

Following on automakers betting on air mobility, there is the joint venture Hyundai and Uber announced in early 2020 during the CES. According to the South Korean company, "Hyundai is the first automotive company to join the Uber Elevate initiative, bringing manufacturing capability and a track record of mas-producing electric vehicles," said the company in a statement. Hyundai will produce and deploy the air vehicles while Uber will provide airspace support services and customer interfaces. "Hyundai is our first vehicle partner with experience of manufacturing passenger cars on a global scale," said Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate.

Hyundai is our first vehicle partner with experience of manufacturing passenger cars on a global scale,"

Eric Allison, Head of Uber Elevate.

At CES 2020, Hyundai presented an air vehicle concept that was created through Uber's open design process. The vehicle has a speed of 290km/hr flying at an altitude of 300-600m with fly trips up to 100km. "We expect Urban Air Mobility (UAM) to vitalize urban communities and provide more quality time to people," said Jaiwon Shin, Head of Hyundai’s UAM Division.

As the race begins, fossil fuels were left off of the table. All of the companies pursuing the development of an eVTOL are trusting on an electric powertrain.