A Chinese firm has beat US electric carmaker, Tesla, in starting trial production of its next-generation ‘flying cars’, which will forever alter the transportation landscape.
Xpeng Aeroht, the flying car affiliate of Chinese electric vehicle maker, Xpeng, on Monday began trial production at the world’s first ‘intelligent factory’ for mass-produced flying cars in the Huangpu district of Guangzhou, the capital of south China’s Guangdong Province.
At about 5.5 metres in length, the flying car comprises a six-wheel ground vehicle, referred to as the “mothership”, and a detachable electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Xepeng’s eVTOL cars offer both automatic and manual flight modes and can be driven on public roads with a standard licence and parked in regular spaces, a Chinese state-run news agency reported.
The car’s automatic mode enables smart route planning, as well as one-touch take-off and landing, the report said.
A milestone in the commercialisation of next-generation transport, Xpeng said it has secured orders for nearly 5,000 flying cars since its product release, and mass production and delivery are scheduled in 2026.
The 120,000-square-metre plant Guangzhou has already rolled out the first detachable electric aircraft of its modular flying car, the ‘Land Aircraft Carrier’, the news agency said.
Having the largest production capacity of any factory of its kind, it is designed to have an annual production capacity of 10,000 detachable aircraft modules, with an initial capacity of 5,000 units.
It will be capable of assembling one aircraft every 30 minutes once fully operational, the report said.
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Xpeng announced the plan ahead of Tesla launching its flying car version, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the car would “hopefully” be unveiled “in a couple months”.
“We’re getting close to demonstrating the prototype,” Musk was quoted as saying on Monday, adding that “whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable.”
Asked whether the automobile would have a “retractable wing”, Musk just said the unveiling “has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever”.
Meanwhile, another US firm, Alef Aeronautics, has recently demonstrated its flying car test runs with an announcement that its commercial production will begin soon.
The firm’s CEO, Jim Dukhovny, said in an interview that his firm has already secured over a billion USD pre-booking orders for the “driver-driven cars” which will require light plane flying licenses besides driving license.
According to data from China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), 50-odd EV builders of China exported a total of 2.01 million pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles overseas in the first eight months of the year, up 51 per cent from the same period a year earlier.
However, Chinese EV makers are facing a pushback abroad as EU has imposed a 27 per cent tariff on Chinese EVs to limit their sales in the bloc.
Domestically too, the Chinese EV makers are victims of discount wars and chronic overcapacity on the mainland, global consultancy AlixPartners in a report published in August.
Only half of China’s electric vehicle production capacity – about 20 million units – was used last year, according to Goldman Sachs. Among the country’s EV builders, only four – BYD, Li Auto, Seres and Leapmotor – are profitable, according to a recent report by a Hong Kong-based English daily.
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