FARNBOROUGH: Rolls-Royce and Hyundai Motor Group on July 18, 2022 signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on bringing all-electric propulsion and hydrogen fuel cell technology to the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market.
The partnership will leverage Rolls-Royce’s aviation and certification capabilities and Hyundai Motor Group’s hydrogen fuel cell technologies and industrialization capability. Both companies share a vision of leading the way in the AAM market delivering battery-electric and fuel cell electric solutions to the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) and Regional Air Mobility (RAM) markets and advancing sustainable aviation.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Rolls-Royce and Hyundai Motor Group includes five strategic aims:
• Collaborating on the technology development and requirements of power and propulsion systems for Hyundai’s Advanced Air Mobility Division.
• Collaborating on the industrialization of Rolls-Royce power and propulsion systems for the Advanced Air Mobility market.
• Development of electric propulsion systems based upon hydrogen fuel cells as an energy source for Hyundai’s RAM platforms.
• Collaborating to bring to market a joint fuel-cell electric propulsion system to the wider AAM market.
• Delivering a joint fuel-cell electric aircraft demonstration by 2025.
Supernal (the Company) revealed its initial eVTOL vehicle cabin concept at Farnborough International Airshow, providing the first look at how Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) is integrating automotive capabilities to develop the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market.
Supernal partnered with the Group’s design studios to create the cabin concept as the Company works to certify its eVTOL vehicle for commercial use in the United States starting in 2028 – and in the E.U. and U.K. shortly after. Beyond the vehicle, Supernal is collaborating with external partners and the Group’s more than 50 affiliates – which span automobiles, automotive parts, construction, robotics and autonomous driving – to responsibly co-create the expansive AAM value chain.
“In order for Advanced Air Mobility to become a wide-spread mode of transportation, every detail – from the passenger experience to regulations and infrastructure – needs to be addressed from the start and work in lockstep with one another,” said Jaiwon Shin, President of Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of Supernal.
“Leveraging Hyundai Motor Group’s mobility capabilities, Supernal is investing time and resources upfront to ensure the industry can scale to the masses in the coming decades and reach its exciting potential.” He added.
Harnessing Automotive Design
Supernal’s five-seat cabin concept provides clues to how the Company is harnessing automotive design processes and materials – while meeting commercial aviation’s highest safety standards – to optimize the AAM passenger experience and price-point. The design embodies biomimicry philosophy – a butterfly in this case – and the Company’s pillars of safety above all, human-centered design and environmental responsibility.
“Supernal is partnering with Hyundai Motor Group’s top automotive designers to develop our eVTOL vehicle for manufacturability and wide-spread public acceptance,” Shin added. “We are taking the time to create a safe, light-weight commercial eVTOL that provides our future passengers with the security and comfort they find in their own cars.”
The team of engineers and designers utilized the automotive industry’s reductive design approach to create the light-weight interior cabin, which is made of forged carbon fiber. Ergonomically contoured seats offer a cocoon-like environment for passengers. Deployable seat consoles mimic automobile center consoles and provide a charging station and stowage compartment for personal items. Grab handles built into the cabin doors and seatbacks assist with ingress and egress. A combination of lighting – including overhead lights inspired by automobile sunroofs – adjusts with the various stages of flight to emulate a “light therapy” effect. The cabin layout draws on automotive space innovation with a minimized bulkhead, which allows for generous headroom and package functionalities.
With sustainability as a priority, the cabin concept incorporates materials such as advanced recyclable carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic, durable plant-based leather, recycled plastic fabric and responsibly sourced woods. The seat frame also utilizes excess raw material from the airframe manufacturing process.
“The Supernal eVTOL vehicle draws on the competence of the Hyundai Motor Group and the skillset of experienced automotive designers, which allowed us to develop a new air mobility concept that is not only safe and rational but also highly emotional,” said Luc Donckerwolke, Chief Creative Officer of Hyundai Motor Group.
Developing Air Mobility Beyond Urban Markets
The Group is leveraging its expansive mobility and mobility-enabling capabilities to develop a family of electric air vehicles, as well as the surrounding value chain.
Complementing U.S.-based Supernal’s battery-powered eVTOL vehicle designed for intra-city passenger journeys starting in 2028, the Group’s Korea-based division (the Division) focused on Regional Air Mobility is developing a hydrogen-powered mid-sized vehicle for regional – city-to-city – cargo and passenger journeys. The Division plans to launch service of its hydrogen vehicle in the 2030s.
Supernal and the Division are partnering with the Group’s manufacturing innovation teams across the globe to create a robust high-rate, high-quality AAM manufacturing process that will produce electric air vehicles at scale – at an increasingly affordable price-point – over the coming decades.
“Hyundai Motor Group is working to leverage synergies between automotive’s high-rate manufacturing capabilities and aerospace’s high certification standards to build the foundation for everyday use of passenger and cargo air vehicles,” Shin said.
The signing ceremony took place at Supernal’s booth at Farnborough Airshow and was attended by Warren East, CEO of Rolls-Royce, Grazia Vittadini, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer and Rob Watson, President of Rolls-Royce Electrical as well as Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group, Jaiwon Shin, President and Head of AAM Division of Hyundai Motor Group, and Jaeyong Song, Vice President of AAM Division of Hyundai Motor Group.
Jaiwon Shin, President of Hyundai Motor Group, said: “We are pleased to partner with Rolls-Royce to draw upon their aviation and certification expertise to accelerate the development of hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion systems. Hyundai has successfully delivered hydrogen fuel cell systems to the global automotive market and is now exploring the feasibility of electric and hydrogen propulsion technologies for aerospace integration. We believe this to be the key technology to support the global aviation industry’s goal to fly net zero carbon by 2050.”
Rob Watson, President, Rolls-Royce Electrical, said: “We are delighted to partner with Hyundai Motor Group which provides a valuable opportunity to leverage and build on the capabilities each company brings from the aerospace and automotive sectors. The Advanced Air Mobility Market offers great commercial potential, and this collaboration supports our joint ambitions to lead the way in the Advanced Air Mobility Market. It is also another demonstration of Rolls-Royce’s role in delivering the solutions that will enable passengers to travel sustainably and help deliver net zero carbon by 2050.”
The benefits of using a hydrogen fuel cell system in an all-electric aircraft propulsion system is that it is a zero-emission, silent and reliable on-board power source that enables scalability in power offerings as well as long distance flight range. Hyundai will work with Rolls-Royce to bring hydrogen fuel cells, storage systems and infrastructure to the aerospace markets, and advance this technology into Hyundai’s RAM vehicles and Rolls-Royce all-electric and hybrid-electric propulsion system offerings.
Last year, Rolls-Royce announced a pathway to net zero carbon emissions and its electrical technology is one way in which the company is helping decarbonise critical parts of the global economy. Rolls-Royce is committed to ensuring its new products will be compatible with net zero carbon operation by 2030 and all its products will be compatible with net zero carbon by 2050.
Hyundai Motor Group earlier this year announced its AAM business roadmap, which encompasses the UAM and RAM segments to offer eco-friendly air mobility solutions for people within and between cities. Hyundai Motor Group’s US-based Supernal unit is aiming to begin commercial services of UAM businesses in the US in 2028 while Hyundai Motor Group plans to launch RAM services in the 2030s.
