In March, China automaker Geely also announced it would launch a flying car into the China market in 2024. Yet Xpeng isn’t the first manufacturer trying to sell the idea of a flying car. Producing a flying car, “even if only sold in limited quantities, is still a net positive for them at this point in time.” “Xpeng clearly wants to be known for pushing the envelope and being the most technologically advanced ‘mobility’ company,” Le says. The real purpose of announcing a flying car is to define what the future of “mobility” looks like. It has sold zero units.īut whether Xpeng’s flying car ever really gets off the ground is a little besides the point, says Tu Le, founder and CEO of auto industry consultancy, Sino Auto Insights. The Xpeng affiliate has so far devised six generations of flying passenger vehicles.
#HOVER CAR IN CHINA SERIES#
The newfangled flying machine is designed by HT Aero, an “urban air mobility” company backed by Xpeng, which raised $500 million in Series A funding last week. The wings retract to a compartment inside the car when it is in car mode. Flight on the theoretical marque is powered by twin propellers set on foldable arms that, when primed for flight, extend from either side of the car’s body, giving it a wingspan of around 12 meters.
Xpeng’s own flight of fancy, however, is designed to take to the roads as well as the air.
The usually single-passenger pods are functionally more like personal electric helicopters than bona fide flying cars. Take a look for yourselves, below, then let us know what you think the odds of Xpeng’s flying car reaching production might be in the comments section at the bottom of the page.EHang markets its “autonomous aerial vehicles” as pilotless air taxis, good for ferrying high-flying executives to and from airports, or even as emergency service vehicles, for rescuing people trapped in floods or on other hard-to-reach terrain. The front wheels have been moved forward, giving it a longer overall wheelbase, and the car’s shock absorbers appear significantly beefier – which is probably what you’d want if you had to bring it down for a quick landing.īeyond that, the spy shots show a large casing on the roof to hold in the rotors when they’re not in use – which makes sense, because one of the challenges of designing a flying car/driving drone like this would be locking the rotors properly to prevent damage to them when you’re driving (which would explain the heavy-duty top box). It’s a car, just that it’s a car with a heavy-duty top box (the rotor casing) on the roof.įrom these pictures, the Xpeng prototype looks like it uses a heavily modified version of the sporty XPeng P7 that our own Tina Casey got the chance to drive a few years ago. They haven’t looked like what most people think of as “cars,” is what I’m saying – but this sixth generation of the car finally looks the part. They’ve presented five versions of their flying car concept since 2016, but most of those “cars” looked more like remote-controlled drones with seats on them. XPeng is one of the few major players out there with a credible shot at bringing a “Tesla killer” to market.
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