Flying Car Company Raises $150M; Road Vehicle Detaches

Flying car company XPeng Aeroht has raised $150 million in the first segment of a series B funding round.

The Chinese company plans to use the funds for the development, mass production and commercialization of its flying vehicle the Land Aircraft Carrier, according to founder Zhao Deli.

The manned air module of the eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicle is being  developed for users in China.

The electric aerial vehicle (EAV) has a distributed electric propulsion system with redundancies.

XPeng Aeroht already had a deal with the Guangzhou Development District in China for the manufacturing, mass production and sales of its flying vehicles.

The EAV maker, a subsidiary of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker XPeng Motors, has long planned to establish an intelligent, large-scale flying car factory.

The plant is intended to produce the flight component of the modular Land Aircraft Carrier, which involves two parts, one for driving and one for flying.

The six-wheeled ground vehicle essentially carries the flying component inside it. To fly, that part of the vehicle totally detaches and becomes a standalone electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle for low-altitude flights.

The ground vehicle can accommodate up to five passengers. It has three axles with all-wheel drive for all six wheels, with rear-wheel steering.

Related:Flying Car Featured at CES; Pre-Orders Starting This Year

The air vehicle is fully electric and supports both manual and automatic flying.

The XPeng flying car drew attention when it was featured at CES earlier this year.

The flying car looks like a car with large propellers atop it. However, the wings fold up into the car for on-road driving.

Credit: XPeng Aeroht

XPeng has expanded its flight application network, with 60 flying car camps including general aviation airports, scenic spots, cultural and tourism towns and urban suburbs signed.

Pre-sales are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year in China.

The company said it has developed an ultra-low-altitude multi-parachute rescue system for flight.

The Land Aircraft Carrier model is more practical in the short term since the land and air components can be developed and treated separately.

XPeng raised $500 million in a series A financing round in 2021 and is backed by a consortium of investors, including Sequoia China, Eastern Bell Capital, GGV Capital, GL Ventures and Yunfeng Capital.

The company has conducted an autonomous test of its EAV with the two-seater X2 taking off, flying over buildings and landing, showcased in a video by the company.

A somewhat similar approach to flying vehicles is being taken by LuftCar in Orlando, Florida, at least in terms of developing two separate vehicles.

Related:Flying Car Flies Across River in China

LuftCar is developing a hydrogen-powered eVTOL vehicle. The flying component, called a flying forklift by the company, would attach to the land vehicle and then be able to fly it.