If you’ve been waiting for the day when you can hail an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing air taxi, a North Texas company shares your impatience—and it just partnered to help bring that day closer.

Red Oak-based Qarbon Aerospace announced today that it’s partnering with Washington, D.C.-based Supernal, an advanced air mobility eVTOL vehicle company. Through the partnership, Supernal and Qarbon said they will scale Qarbon’s unique welding technology “to revolutionize the assembly process of Supernal’s thermoplastic carbon composite vehicle structure, enabling readiness for high-rate manufacture from the start of the program.”

Supernal’s air taxis aim to carry four passengers—and launch by 2028

Rendering of a Supernal air taxi [Image: Supernal]

Supernal, an air taxi unit of South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Group, says it fuses “electrification, autonomy, robotics, and smart manufacturing technologies to accelerate the development of Advanced Air Mobility.”

Supernal’s six-rotor eVTOL is being designed to carry up to four passengers with a pilot operating the controls, for quick trips within cities. The company has said it plans to launch its air taxi service by 2028.

Qarbon CEO Pete Wick

Qarbon says its tech can help Supernal reduce weight, cycle times, and cost

Qarbon Aerospace said its thermoplastic induction welding technology offers a long list of advantages, including “reduced weight, cycle times, and cost, improved joint strength, enhanced repeatability, minimal material waste, and flexible assembly fixturing.” That last point eliminates the need for high-cost staged tooling and infrastructure, Qarbon added.

By leveraging Qarbon’s established induction welding process, the partnership aims to streamline the assembly process, delivering high-quality composite components for Supernal’s eVTOL vehicles.

Aiming for ‘a revolutionary transformation’

“We’re extremely excited to partner with Supernal and apply our groundbreaking thermoplastic induction welding technology to the assembly of their thermoplastic carbon composite vehicle structure,” Pete Wick, CEO of Qarbon Aerospace, said in a statement.

Supernal CEO Jaiwon Shin

“By merging our extensive experience in composite manufacturing with Supernal’s innovative air mobility solutions, this collaboration will bring a revolutionary transformation to the manufacturing process for air mobility vehicles,” Wick added. “This partnership represents a momentous achievement in propelling the future of high-volume urban air mobility.”

Jaiwon Shin, president of Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of Supernal, says that the two companies will work toegether “to advance rate-enabling manufacturing processes for the AAM industry.”

“By incorporating advanced materials and processes in our manufacturing strategy from the start, Supernal will be prepared to expand eVTOL vehicle production capacity to meet demand surges when the industry takes off,” Shin added in a statement.

Qarbon is also partnering on one-person flying cars from Texas’ LIFT

Dallas Innovates previously wrote about Qarbon’s partnership with Texas-based LIFT Aircraft, which is developing one-person HEXA flying cars that anyone can fly for $249 after a one-hour lesson.

Qarbon operates nearly two million square feet of factory space across three facilities in Red Oak, Milledgeville, GA, and Rayong, Thailand—providing large, complex structural components and assemblies such as fuselages, wings, flight control surfaces, and engine nacelles.

Qarbon Aerospace was formed in May 2021 when equity firm Arlington Capital Partners acquired the composites business of Triumph Group, Inc. The company has since been operating independently.

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