Hyundai's Flying Concept Car

Hyundai’s Flying Concept Car

Editorial Staff

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Key Takeaways:

Hyundai showcased a quadcopter-style "flying car" prototype at its annual Idea Festival.
The single-seat vehicle uses four electric motors and propellers for vertical takeoff and hovering.
The design aims to address urban congestion by providing elevated personal transport.
While demonstrated, the flying car prototype did not win the internal company competition.

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As part of an annual festival to encourage its engineers to develop creative ideas, Hyundai recently exhibited a “flying car” based on a quad-copter design. The aircraft has four sets of four propellers, with a seat in the center, which was occupied by a crash-test dummy for the demo flight at the festival. A short video posted online (right) shows the vehicle taking off vertically from a road in Korea, and climbing to several feet above the surface, operated by remote control.

The multi-rotor “flying car” is powered by four electric motors and propellers, “which means the car can hover above the ground, keeping the driver above congestion,” according to Hyundai’s news release. The engineers were challenged to develop “unique ideas for single-person future mobility … for use in congested cities.” The prototypes were submitted to an internal company competition called the “Idea Festival.” The flying car was not among the winning designs.