Unusually Traditional Offering Sports 120-mph Cruise, 8 Rotors

Supernal, a Hyundai Motor Group subsidiary, showed off its S-A2 concept at CES 2024.

The 2+2 electric aircraft is "the latest milestone in Supernal's roadmap to commercialize safe, efficient and affordable everyday passenger air travel" according to the marque. The design is a bit unorthodox given its Korean origins - most eVTOL designs are aimed at providing affordable and eco-friendly air taxi service, but Supernal built the S-A2 around the more traditional aircraft layout of 2 pilots and 2 passengers.

The S-A2 is said to have a 120 mph cruise at 1,500 feet AGL, allowing city operations of 25 to 40 mile trips. Distributed propulsion is provided by 8 tilting rotors, all being designed to provide power quietly and continuously. Given their metropolitan city landscapes, Hyundai capped the sound signature of the S-A2, boasting that it operates "as quietly as a dishwasher": 65 decibels in vertical takeoff mode, and 45 decibels during its level cruise flight. Aside from that, all the usual stuff applies from the rest of the VTOL scene - redundancy, safety, and automated harm prevention ensure passengers don't get too spooked at the concept of battery powered flight.

"Supernal's product concept vehicle is the result of the creativity and hard work of our world-class team. S-A2 is designed to take full advantage of emerging electric powertrain advancements that will define the next generation of aviation," said Ben Diachun, chief technology officer, Supernal. "From here, we will develop this concept into a revolutionary commercial product."

FMI:www.supernal.aero