Raphael ThysXPeng seems to be closer than other names in the industry to launching a flying car. At its annual 1024 Tech Day, the company unveiled what the future flying car looks like, announcing that it will be officially launched in just three years.
Only a week ago, HT Aero, an XPeng affiliate, boasted about having scored the biggest single-tranche fundraising to date, in Asia’s flying vehicle sector. The $500 million funding would be used for further development and certification of its flying vehicles. The most advanced one, which will effectively integrate fly-and-drive conversion capabilities, is set to be officially launched in 2024.
XPeng unveiled the futuristic design at its annual 1024 Tech Day, as a new generation vehicle that can actually drive and fly. The Chinese carmaker hasn’t revealed too many details about this model, other than the fact that it will be lightweight, and equipped with a foldable rotor mechanism that enables the fly-drive conversion.
HT Aero, the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) company that will actually build this flying car, has previously developed five generations of smart, electric aircraft. Its latest eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing), XPeng X2, is able to perform automatic take-off and landing, and autonomous flight route planning, easily landing on the top of residential buildings.
The XPeng X2 model is a stepping stone for the future flying car, HT Aero describing it as “an exploration of an aircraft-car integration”. The new generation model will go beyond exploration and become a fully-integrated aircraft/car that can conduct low-altitude urban flights, as easily as it drives on roads.
The Chinese carmaker also stated that the flying car will feature a “multi-level safety redundancy design” and HT Aero’s “in-house developed R&D.”
“Our exploration of more efficient, safer, carbon-neutral mobility solutions goes far beyond just smart EVs,” said He Xiaopeng, Chairman & CEO of XPeng.
At the recent event, XPeng also introduced the latest versions of its advanced driver assistance system, XPILOT 3.5 and XPILOT 4.0., which will be rolled out in the next two years. It looks like the Chinese innovator is ready to turn its smart mobility ecosystem into reality.
