Supernal LLC, Hyundai Motor Group’s (HMG) Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) company, will open its primary R&D facility in Fremont, California. This marks the third — and final — facility Supernal will open this year, following announcements of the company’s engineering headquarters in Irvine, Calif., and policy and commercial hub in Washington, D.C.
Supernal selected Fremont owing to its proximity to Silicon Valley’s renowned tech ecosystem. The company’s 72,000-ft² facility — located in the Scott Creek Business Park — serves as a home-base to more than 100 employees across its battery, intelligent systems, autonomy and core operations teams. Primarily focused on AAM R&D, Supernal’s Fremont-based employees are working to address the unique challenges and opportunities within battery technology for electric air travel applications.
“Batteries are the linchpin of Advanced Air Mobility and critical to powering the next generation of flight, which we see as everyday electric air travel,” said Jaiwon Shin, president of Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of Supernal. “Fremont, with its vibrant tech ecosystem, offers a robust talent pool that will enable Supernal to continue advancing the power and energy capabilities of safe aviation-grade batteries.”
Supernal’s battery efforts are crucial to the development of its electric vertical-take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle. The company, which was established in 2020 as the Urban Air Mobility Division of Hyundai Motor Group, is taking an “open ecosystem approach” to developing lightweight and powerful batteries that meet commercial aviation’s high safety standards. This involves harnessing in-house talent and helping to grow the pool of aviation suppliers in this emerging vertical.
Supernal plans to hire more than 20 employees in Fremont this year. The company is seeking engineers with experience in autonomy, battery development and intelligent systems.
