Flying Car Factory Planned for China

Flying car company XPeng Aeroht has signed a deal with the Guangzhou Development District in China to focus on the manufacturing, mass production and sales of its flying vehicles.

The electric aerial vehicle (EAV) maker, a subsidiary of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker XPeng Motors, plans to establish an intelligent, large-scale flying car factory using modern assembly lines.

The plant is intended to produce the flight component of the modular flying car 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.

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.

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 taking the approach of developing two separate vehicles.

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