US ride-hailing company Uber and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor are teaming up to develop air taxis, joining the fledgling race to launch flying cars in big cities.

Their all-electric, four-passenger air taxi, a prototype of which was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, will be piloted initially but over time will become autonomous, Uber said. It has said it aims to conduct test flights this year and hopes to begin commercial operations within three years. 

Uber sees the air service, one of the most futuristic aspects of its vision to become the “Amazon of transportation”, as a way to get people out of privately owned cars and into its shared vehicle network. However, the regulatory landscape for air taxis remains largely undefined.