Xpeng Aeroht Flying Electric Vehicle

2024: Flying Car Display

In late October 2024, Xpeng Aeroht, a division of the Chinese automaker Xpeng, unveiled a two-seat, automatic take-off and landing aircraft that can perform 5 − 6 full-charge flights. The modular flying vehicle has ground and air modules that can be autonomously separated and combined. The air module provides vertical takeoff for low altitude flights, and the ground module allows ground transportation.

The company has begun to build a production base for these modular aircraft in Guangzhou. According to the company, the plant will produce 10,000 flying cars a year. The initial area of ​ ​ the enterprise in Guangzhou will be about 180,000 square meters, which will house four main workshops for working with composite materials. Centralized logistics will reduce waste during storage and transportation, as well as increase production efficiency.

The production base will give top priority to environmentally friendly production and application of artificial intelligence, and should also set a global standard in the production of flying cars, said Zhao Delhi, founder of Xpeng Aeroht.

The company said the new production line will use a comprehensive tracking system for all materials before final assembly of finished products that ensures strict aviation safety standards are met. In addition, all facilities of the plant will implement the possibilities of using solar energy, installed energy-saving equipment, and also introduced a digital energy management system in real time, which will significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.^[1]

2022: The price of a flying car is announced - $140 thousand.

In December 2022, the cost of the Aeroht flying car created by the Chinese company XPeng was disclosed. The manufacturer estimated its car at $140 thousand.

Aeroht is capable of rising tens of meters into the air using eight screws and four electric motors. It is expected that most of the time the electric car will move on the ground, and take off into the sky only to overcome obstacles on the road or traffic jams. The founder of the startup Zhao Delhi believes that the most important problem in the path of his company is not technological challenges, but restrictions from regulators, since the owner of such a car may need not only a driver's license, but also a pilot's license.

Xpeng Aeroht

XPeng Aeroht received a multi-rotor configuration and an improved design to improve flight safety and reliability. According to the company, even on a regular highway, the car will compete with a classic car in terms of functionality and dimensions. In flight mode, the same steering wheel and switch on the right are used, which is responsible for adjusting the trajectory, lifting and stabilizing in the air. The control of the flying vehicle turned out to be no more difficult than driving a passenger car, and this, according to the manufacturer, guarantees its success in the consumer market.

The start of serial production of XPeng Aeroht is scheduled for 2025. In 2022, the flying car passed two public tests - in Dubai and Guangzhou.

The flying car is getting closer to reality. We think it's time to contribute, "says Xpeng President Brian Gu. - There have been a lot of technical breakthroughs in the [automotive] industry, from weight loss [of machines] to avoidance of obstacle collisions and electrification.[2]

2021: Announcement of an electric car capable of flying and driving on roads

On October 24, 2021, the Chinese company Xpeng introduced an electric car with wheels and wings, which can not only drive on ordinary roads, but also fly.

The manufacturer claims that the flying machine will go into mass production by 2024 and will be sold at a cost of about $157 thousand. In the absence of a regulatory framework for driving cars in the air, and in some cases on the roads, for example, to accommodate retractable propeller blades, the terms indicated by the company can be considered rather optimistic.

The car from the Xpeng is powered by twin propellers mounted on folding consoles, which, when ready to fly, extend on both sides of the body, providing a wingspan of about 12 meters, and in highway mode, the wings retract into the compartment inside the car. The new flying machine was developed by HT Aero, an urban air mobility company supported by Xpeng, which raised $500 million in Series A funding in mid-October 2021. So far, the Xpeng-affiliated company has developed six generations of flying passenger cars.

Xpeng unveils electric car capable of flying and driving on roads

Xpeng clearly wants to be known as a company that promotes new technologies and is the most technologically advanced company in the field of mobility. The production of a flying car, even if it is sold in limited quantities, is still a net plus for them at the moment in time, "said Tu Le, founder and CEO of Sino Auto Insights, a consulting company.

Some local authorities in Anhui and Jiangxi provinces in China have already opened pilot zones where developers can experience low-altitude air spaces such as flying taxis. Although on October 25, 2021, documentation on security issues is still being worked out.

Xpeng says its flying car will be equipped with state-of-the-art environmental sensors to conduct a safety assessment before take-off, but experts are focusing on specific safeguards, as the company itself must take steps to reduce potential health and safety risks. Xpeng's reputational losses from a flying car malfunction are likely to be greater than Tesla's due to autopilot problems, even though the car is equipped with airbags and a parachute.^[3]

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