In front of more than 150 spectators, the Xpeng X2 took off for the first time in Dubai on Monday and flew through the air for around 90 minutes. With this, Xpeng Aeroht, a subsidiary of the Chinese technology manufacturer Xpeng, wanted to give a foretaste of what should be ready for the market in the next few years: a two-seater flying car for flights within the city. It is designed in particular for a low flight altitude and short distances. Brian Gu, vice chairman and president of Xpeng, said in a press release that it was “a significant milestone for Xpeng Aeroht and the international achievement of flying cars.”
In order to revolutionize city traffic, the Xpeng X2 should be able to take off and land vertically. It also has a manual and an autonomous driving mode. In autonomous mode, the vehicle can be controlled at the push of a button, for example to take off and land. It should be used for sightseeing and medical transport, for example.
The vehicle, now in its fifth generation, has a closed cockpit for the first time and appears in a “sci-fi look”, which is intended to contribute to improved aerodynamics. The construction of carbon fiber structure is said to reduce the weight. At the same time, according to the manufacturer, the flying car does not emit any CO2 while flying “and is a step forward on the way to environmentally friendly city traffic”. The price is said to be under $157,000.
Founded in 2013, Xpeng Aeroht claims to be the largest flying car company in Asia. The company’s goal is to develop the “safest, intelligent, electric flying car for individual users”. Xpeng Aeroht states that it has carried out 15,000 manned flights to date.
At the “1024 Xpeng Tech Day” at the end of October, the company plans to announce further updates on the sixth-generation flying car. This should affect the development status, configuration, exterior design and flight method. For the future, Xpeng Aeroht has also announced the introduction of solutions in the field of 3D transport. In addition to flying cars, Xpeng develops electric cars and robots.
Cars that can be converted into flying objects are still relatively early days, but there are already several models in development or even in production and on the market. Samson Sky, based in Redmond, USA, recently received approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration to conduct flight tests with its flying car. The “Switchblade” is a three-wheeled, street-legal vehicle that can be driven from the garage to a nearby airport. Once there, the wings and tail swing out and the vehicle becomes a flying object. It should be able to fly at speeds of up to 321 km/h and have a maximum range of 724 kilometers. Samson Sky wants to launch the flying car in three versions. Prices start at $170,000.
At the beginning of the year, a flying car from Slovakia received an official flight permit from the Slovakian aviation authority. This is the “AirCar” from the company Klein Vision, which can be transformed into a flying car in just under three minutes. In June 2021, it made its first flight from Nitra to the Slovakian capital Bratislava, which is 75 kilometers away as the crow flies. A new production model should be certified in twelve months, it was said last January. The “AirCar” is said to be able to fly at speeds of over 300 km/h and have a range of 1,000 kilometers.
The Jetson company is already selling a mini flying car for one person with the “Jetson One”. According to the manufacturer, the vehicle has a flight time of 20 minutes and can fly at around 100 km/h. All stocks for 2022 are already sold out, deliveries will not be possible again until 2023.
The Slovakian company AeroMobil presented a flying car called “Aeromobil 4.0” back in 2017. The two-seater luxury vehicle is scheduled to go into series production in 2024. In April of this year, the company also presented a second flying car, the “AM NEXT”, which is to be launched in 2027. The vehicle is designed for four people and should be particularly suitable for use on routes between 160 and 800 kilometers. The market launch of the Xpeng X2 is also planned for 2024.
Sources: Xpeng, Aeromobil, Samson Sky, with dpa material
