Hyundai is the latest automaker to turn its attention from the roads to the skies, partnering with Uber to design a concept for a future air-taxi service.
The Korean manufacturer displayed a full-scale model of its S-A1 aerial vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week ? the world's biggest consumer electronics show taking place in Las Vegas until January 10.
The vehicle is one potential incarnation of a concept Hyundai called Urban Air Mobility (UAM), wherein small, electric passenger vehicles would make use of the airspace above cities.

Alongside the vehicle, it presented designs for the ground-based infrastructure to support a flying-taxi service, run by the likes of partner Uber.
This includes a "hub" structure with a landing pad on top, and an adaptive minibus that Hyundai calls the "purpose-built vehicle" (PBV). Also electric, these PBVs could be customised to serve different functions as they ferry passengers from their pick-up point to the hub for takeoff. Hyundai suggests a coffee shop and a medical clinic as two examples.

The UAM concept is Hyundai's take on an emerging technology of eVTOL, which stands for electric vertical takeoff and landing.
With rotor-powered flight eliminating the need for a runway, and electric engines keeping the noise level down, such aerial vehicles could perform short flights over or between cities.

Uber has been one of the companies leading the eVTOL charge, and has presented several aerial vehicle ...