Although this Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024 has been more cautious in terms of electric vehicles for city streets, with Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Stellantis not exhibiting at the fair, it seems that 2024 is the year that companies will once again try to make flying cars a reality.

Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) airships for ultra-fast urban travel always seem to be a few years away, but Hyundai's air mobility division, Supernal, is apparently making a concerted effort to make this form of transportation a reality.

Supernal's latest product concept for its eVTOL, the S-A2, is an all-electric, one-pilot, four-crew vehicle designed to provide travelers with safe, efficient and affordable everyday air travel.

• What does the Supernal S-A2, Hyundai's flying "car" look like?

Based on the S-A1, Supernal's first concept presented at CES 2020, the new S-A2 is designed to reach a cruising speed of 190 km/h (120 mph) at an altitude of around 450 meters (1,500 feet), and can carry up to four passengers. each time at distances between 40 and 60 kilometers (25 and 40 miles). Eight rotors provide vertical flight capability. When taking off, the front four face up and the rear four face down. Then, for "normal flight", they all rotate horizontally.

The real advantage, however, is that, as Supernal promises, when it enters service, the S-A2 will reportedly operate as quietly as a dishwasher: 65 decibels in vertical takeoff and landing, and 45 decibels in horizontal flight.

"The DLO (daylight open, glass) design tries to provide as much visibility as possible. When you fly in an airplane, you look forward. When you do it in a helicopter or VTOL, you look down to see where you're landing, both the passengers and the pilot." explains Luc Donckerwolke, President, Design Director and Creative Director of Hyundai Motors Group.

Donckerwolke and his team came up with a solution inspired by bees, and then based on the heads of these insects, they configured the placement and design of the S-A2's windows. "Then we dynamically exaggerated it, as if the bee's head had been transformed by speed."

Creative design was also used to create the seat structures and ensure that as little metal as possible was used, reducing weight and giving the seats energy-absorbing properties to dissipate the forces caused by vertical take-off and landing.

Behind the cockpit, at the rear of the fuselage, there are eight separate battery units, arranged for safety reasons in such a way that if one unit fails, the others will continue to power the vehicle. In fact, Supernal wants to achieve commercial aviation safety levels for the S-A2, which means, among other provisions, that in the event of a failure, the aircraft will have redundant electronic components not only in the power train, but also in the flight controls.

Apparently, even the S-A2 doesn't need all eight propellants to fly.
The next thing Donckerwolke wants to do is focus on the S-A2's signature light. He has a background in car design and wants people to experience the Supernal eVTOL in the air, much like car designers try to do with the shapes of model headlights. "The S-A2 is a true representation of the combination of an airplane and a car," he says.

There are no details yet on battery capacity or charging speed, crucial statistics for short-range electric aircraft, but Hyundai Motor Group president and Supernal CEO Jaiwon Shin said the company would prefer a high-voltage fast-charging system that wouldn't need to be recharged every flight, but and after four or five trips, too.

• Flying "cars" closer than you think?

"From the beginning, Supernal has been on a mission to create the right product for the right market at the right time," Shin said in a press release at CES. "Supernal is poised to usher in a new era of flight." Well, it's not quite ready: Although the S-A2's test flights are scheduled to take place later this year, the company insists it won't properly enter the urban air mobility sector until 2028.

Supernal wasn't the only company to show off versions of flying cars at this year's CES. Xpeng's AeroHT division showed off what it calls the "land transporter," a modular flying vehicle that will be available for pre-order later this year. The two-part design will allow the user to switch between ground and air modes Xpeng's three-axle, six-tire hybrid "land module" features four-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and room for four or five passengers. Apparently, its powertrain will be able to power the air module, providing "multiple payloads." The air module is an all-electric two-person VTOL with manual and automatic steering modes.