Xpeng AeroHT officially released its modular flying car. It consists of a land carrier and an aircraft. Its first public flight is scheduled for November this year. As for the market launch, the Xpeng modular flying car will start pre-sales later this year with a price tag of under 2 million yuan (280,000 USD). Deliveries are scheduled for 2026.
Xpeng AeroHT was founded in 2013 with financial support from Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng. This startup aims to develop a real flying car. However, its flying vehicles looked like everything but a car. In 2021, Xpeng AeroHT announced the 6-gen flying vehicle. They planned to make it a road-legal car with deployable rotors on the roof.
However, it appeared that it is too difficult to lock rotors properly to prevent damage from vibrations when the car is driving on the road. So, Xpeng AehoHT has started over its flying car project with Land Aircraft Carrier. It was first announced in October 2023. Now, this modular car has made its live debut in China.
More on Xpeng Land Aircraft Carrier
As mentioned, the Xpeng Land Aircraft Carrier consists of two main elements. The first one is the aircraft carrier. It is a large three-axle vehicle with a 5.5-meter length, 2-meter width, and 2-meter height. It keeps minimalistic styling with a blocky body shape and smooth A-pillars that merge into the roofline. The carrier has flush door handles and plastic trim in the lower part of the body. However, it has no side-view mirrors. So, this variant is still far from a production-ready vehicle.
According to Xpeng AeroHT, the aircraft carrier is EREV based on the 800V high-voltage platform. It has an internal combustion engine under the hood, which doesnβt transfer any torque to the wheels. Instead, it supplies power to electric motors and a battery pack. The mixed range of this carrier reaches 1,000 km (CLTC). Thanks to the 800V system, it can charge the aircraft from 30 to 80% in 18 minutes.
Speaking about the aircraft, it looks like a sizeable drone. It can automatically land and dock with the carrier. To fit the trunk of the carrier, it folds its rotors. On a full charge, the aircraft can support 5-6 flights. It supports two driving modes: manual and automatic.
The Land Aircraft Carrier will perform its first public flight at the Zhuhai Air Show in November this year. It will start presales later this year with a price tag below 2 million yuan (280,000 USD). However, the mass production and deliveries of this modular car will start in 2026 because Xpeng AeroHT doesnβt even have an assembly plant. Its construction is scheduled for September 2024. The trial production will start in July 2025. The planned annual capacity is over 10,000 units.
Editorβs comment
It is worth mentioning that flying cars have no proper set of laws in any country. The future owners of the Land Aircraft Carrier will probably need to obtain a flight license as well to operate the aircraft. Low-altitude flights are said to be gradually liberalized in China. However, it is still hard to imagine that Xpeng AehoHT will find 10,000 customers who are ready to buy this vehicle and satisfy the companyβs future plantβs production volume. It is an expensive niche product. So, the future of the Land Aircraft Carrier is foggy, but we hope it surprise us by turning into a successful project.
Source: Xpeng
