On October 30th, Xiaopeng Motors ecological enterprise Xiaopeng Huitian announced that its split type flying car "Land Aircraft Carrier" will soon be unveiled at the 2024 China Air Show. On November 12th, it will conduct its first global public flight in the second exhibition area (Doumen Lianzhou) of the China Air Show. At the same time, the "Land Aircraft Carrier" will also be statically displayed in Hall 8 of the Zhuhai International Air Show Center.
According to previous official reports, the "land carrier" split type flying car is scheduled to start pre-sales in December this year and is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2026, with a price not exceeding 2 million yuan.
The land-based part of the flying car draws inspiration from the "lunar exploration vehicle" in its design, adopting a cyber mecha style overall. The front of the car is equipped with a "Bridge" integrated headlight, which is connected to the A-pillar of the vehicle. The side profile is simple, with split doors and hidden door handles and electrically foldable streaming media exterior mirrors. The second row windows are designed with one-way perspective, and the rear is equipped with a semi transparent aircraft storage box.
·Xiaopeng Huitian
The new car is built on an 800 volt silicon carbide extended range power platform and adopts a three-axis six wheel layout, supporting all wheel drive and rear wheel steering. Under CLTC conditions, the range can exceed 1000 kilometers. In addition, the land-based vehicle can charge the aircraft during driving or parking, and can support the aircraft to complete 5 to 6 flights when fully fueled and charged.
Xiaopeng Huitian
In terms of flight, the aircraft provides a two person cockpit with a 270 degree panoramic view and adopts a six propeller six axis dual aisle design. The main body structure and propeller blades of the aircraft are made of carbon fiber material, which can be folded for storage in the trunk of the land-based vehicle.
The aircraft is equipped with redundant designs in key systems such as power, flight control, power supply, communication, and control, ensuring that in the event of a system failure, another system can immediately take over the work. The flight section is built on an 800 volt silicon carbide high-voltage platform, which can charge from 30% to 80% in 18 minutes.
Xiaopeng Huitian
In terms of operation, the aircraft supports two modes: manual driving and autonomous driving. The manual mode is equipped with a single stick operating system, and the official statement is "5 minutes to get started, 3 hours to become a master". The autonomous driving mode is equipped with full process intelligent flight assistance functions, which can achieve functions such as one click automatic takeoff and landing, automatic route planning, multi-dimensional intelligent aerial perception and obstacle avoidance, and landing vision assistance.
In terms of technology and market deployment, Xiaopeng Huitian has reached a cooperation agreement with Guangzhou Development Zone to manufacture, mass produce, and sell flying cars in this area.
Xiaopeng Huitian
On October 27th, Xiaopeng Huitian started construction of a flying car factory in Guangzhou to produce the flying body part of the "land aircraft carrier", with a planned annual production capacity of 10000 units. The first phase of the factory covers an area of 180000 square meters and includes four processes: materials, connection, painting, and final assembly.
The company pointed out that compared with traditional aviation manufacturing, the new factory will have better quality consistency, lower costs, and shorter delivery cycles, which will help the integrated development of the new energy vehicle industry and the low altitude industry.
Xiaopeng Huitian
The rapid development of China's low altitude economy has led to the widespread application of drones and related technologies in fields such as express delivery, tourism, and air sports. As of the end of September, China has over 2.05 million registered drones and more than 17000 certified companies operating drones.
The market layout of Xiaopeng Huitian also shows the parent company Xiaopeng Motors' optimism about the potential of the flying car market. According to relevant reports, the size of China's flying car market will reach 22 billion US dollars in 2023, with an annual growth rate of 29.41%.
Xiaopeng Huitian
It is reported that the "land carrier" is also planned to be used for emergency services such as medical rescue, obstacle crossing, highway accident response, and high-rise building evacuation in the future.