XPENG AEROHT to Establish Flying Car R&D Center in Guangzhou
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- During the Conference on High-quality Development of Low Altitude Economy in Guangdong Province held on July 4th, Guangzhou Development District and XPENG AEROHT, an affiliate of XPENG, signed the “XPENG AEROHT Flying Car Project Investment Cooperation Agreement,” which will provide strong support to XPENG AEROHT in terms of land use, financing, and application scenarios. This partnership aims to jointly promote the R&D, mass production, and application of flying cars.
XPENG AEROHT’s modular flying car; photo credit: XPENG AEROHT
Through the cooperation, XPENG AEROHT will establish a flying car R&D, intelligent manufacturing, and sales center in the Guangzhou Development District. This center will be used for testing, production, sales, and operating camps for flying cars. The intelligent manufacturing center will initially be used to produce the flying component of the modular flying car “Land Aircraft Carrier.”
XPENG AEROHT plans to start pre-sales of its modular flying car at the Auto Guangzhou 2024 in the fourth quarter of this year. If successful, this will mark the “Land Aircraft Carrier” as the world’s first modular flying car for mass delivery to individual users.
Designed for future three-dimensional transportation, in land mode, the flight systems such as arms and rotors can be fully folded and stored within the vehicle body. With the folding and transforming system, the arms can be deployed to switch to flight mode, enabling vertical take-off and landing in suitable environments.
The flying car also features technologies such as a foldable steering wheel, a transparent instrument panel, and a cockpit with a transparent floor. The smart cockpit can freely switch between land mode and flight mode.
The “Land Aircraft Carrier” consists of two parts: the land vehicle and the flight module. The land vehicle can fully house the flight module within itself for ground movement and can automatically separate and combine like a “Transformer.” It uses a range-extending electric drive system, supporting 6×6 all-wheel drive and rear-wheel steering, and can carry 4-5 people.
As for the flight module, the vehicle uses distributed electric propulsion and offers both manual and automatic driving modes, capable of carrying 2 people.
