XPENG AEROHT conducted a public test flight of its flying car "Ground Aircraft Carrier" on September 3rd, showcasing the future application scenarios of flying cars. This product features both ground and air modules. The ground module can house the air module and drive on the road. The ground module is equipped with an intelligent driving cabin, capable of accommodating 4-5 people, and uses a range-extended electric drive system. The air module is a pure battery electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, supporting both manual and autonomous flight, and features a 270° panoramic window.
In October 2023, XPENG AEROHT first announced the development of the split-body flying car "Ground Aircraft Carrier," which is the world's first vehicle with an automatic coupling and decoupling mechanism. With one-button operation, it can achieve automatic separation and combination of the ground and air modules. Less than a year later, XPENG AEROHT has already begun its first real-vehicle display.
The "Ground Aircraft Carrier" is designed for future three-dimensional transportation: in ground driving mode, the rotor arms and rotors of the air vehicle can be completely folded and stored inside the ground vehicle, i.e., the car. Under suitable conditions, the air vehicle can enter flight mode by unfolding the rotor arms and rotors, achieving vertical take-off and landing, flying over congestion, obstacles, and rivers, meeting the needs of short-distance low-altitude flight. This split-body flying car will explore new business forms in intercity commuting.
The ground vehicle is equipped with the world's first 800V silicon carbide range-extending platform, with a combined driving range of over 1000 kilometers, easily meeting long-distance travel needs. The ground vehicle "mothership" can also serve as a "mobile supercharging station," providing ultra-high power energy replenishment to the aircraft while driving and parked, with a full fuel and electricity supply supporting up to 6 flights.
The air vehicle is equipped with a full-range 800V silicon carbide high-voltage platform, with flight batteries, electric drives, electric ducts, compressors, and other components all operating at 800V, thereby achieving lower energy consumption and faster charging. The aircraft supports both manual and automatic flight modes: in manual mode, XPENG AEROHT has pioneered a single-lever manipulation system that can be controlled with one hand, eliminating the traditional "two hands and two feet" complex operation method of aircraft, allowing even users with no foundation to achieve "5 minutes to get started, 3 hours to become an expert"; in autonomous flight mode, it can achieve one-button take-off and landing, automatic route planning, and automatic flight, and has multi-dimensional intelligent aerial perception and obstacle avoidance assistance, landing vision assistance, and other features.
The entire "Ground Aircraft Carrier" adopts a minimalist and sharp cyber-mech design, with the vehicle measuring about 5.5 meters in length, 2 meters in width, and 2 meters in height. It can be parked in standard parking spaces and can be driven into underground garages, with a C license required for ground driving.
This product, showcased this time, is aimed at individual users and is planned to start pre-sales by the end of this year, with mass production and delivery expected in 2026. The company hopes to sell over 10,000 units annually, with a single-unit price not exceeding 2 million yuan.
XPENG AEROHT is currently working with national partners to rapidly promote the construction of "Ground Aircraft Carrier" application scenarios. So far, XPENG AEROHT has completed cooperation agreements for over 70 flying camps and plans to complete the layout of over 200 flying camps by the end of the year. In the future, users' self-driving tours will also expand into the air, adding flying camp layouts to classic tourist routes to provide individual users with a brand-new flying experience.
In addition to individual users, XPENG AEROHT is also exploring the great potential value in the field of public services, such as emergency medical rescue, short-distance obstacle rescue, high-speed accident rescue, and high-rise building escape pods.
XPENG AEROHT founder Zhao Deli introduced the company's "three-step" product strategy: The first step is to launch the split-body flying car "Ground Aircraft Carrier," mainly used for flight experience in limited scenarios and public service fields. Through large-scale mass production and sales, it will drive the construction and improvement of the low-altitude flight industry chain and ecosystem, and verify the business model of flying cars. The second step is to launch high-speed, long-endurance eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) products to solve air traffic problems in typical scenarios, and simultaneously work with all parties related to low-altitude flight to promote the construction of urban three-dimensional transportation. The third step is to launch an integrated ground and air flying car, truly achieving door-to-door, point-to-point urban 3D three-dimensional transportation.
To meet more diverse needs, between the first and second steps, XPENG AEROHT plans to develop derivative products of the "Ground Aircraft Carrier" ground and air vehicles to support users' needs for more scenario experiences and public services.
According to Zhao Deli, the cost of the flying car is currently very high, with a one-hour flight costing 10,000 yuan. The gross margin of the first "Ground Aircraft Carrier" has not yet been calculated, but the company hopes to achieve both high gross profit and high sales volume. According to Zhao Deli's estimation, when mass production is achieved in 2026 and the annual delivery exceeds 10,000 units, the overall cost is expected to decrease by 15-20%.
According to informed sources, the ground module of XPENG AEROHT's "Ground Aircraft Carrier," that is, the car, is expected to be co-produced with Xpeng cars after appropriate adjustments at the Xpeng car factory. XPENG AEROHT has been in contact with the Seres Group to jointly develop an aviation range extender suitable for the flight field. It is reported that the current XPENG AEROHT "Ground Aircraft Carrier" is equipped with an EV lithium battery with a system energy density of nearly 300Wh/Kg.
XPENG AEROHT announced on August 5th that it has raised 150 million US dollars in its a B1 round of financing and has started the B2 round of financing as well. The B1 round of financing investors include Guangkai Holdings, Guangzhou Financial Holdings Group, Guangzhou Development Zone Investment Group, etc.
