Recently, a set of spy photos of a split type flying car called "Land Aircraft Carrier" from Xiaopeng Huitian, an ecological enterprise of Xiaopeng Motors, have been exposed.
This vehicle is a product that combines electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and ground transportation vehicles. It adopts a configuration of three-axis six wheel drive, and currently there is no similar mass-produced domestic six wheel drive model on the market.
The wheel hub and tire types displayed in spy photos indicate that the testing focus of the model is not on off-road capability, but the six wheel drive configuration provides enormous potential for future modifications.
Xiaopeng Huitian has not yet provided further explanation on other technical indicators, including the body structure, but there are opinions from the outside that a highly similar appearance to Tesla Cybertruck will make it adopt a similar semi load-bearing structure.
Official information shows that the reason why a land aircraft carrier is named is because it carries a small aircraft, and the vehicle mainly serves as the carrier for the aircraft. Xiaopeng Huitian is currently also developing electric flying vehicles, but considering that this category of vehicles currently faces a series of limitations including battery performance, regulatory provisions, etc., its practicality and widespread application are still in the early stages. However, by combining six wheel drive vehicles with aircraft, land aircraft carriers have the potential to expand their application range.
At last year's Xiaopeng Automotive Technology Day event, Xiaopeng Huitian clarified two development paths for flying cars, namely integrated land and air flying cars and split type flying cars. A split type flying vehicle consists of a land-based body and a flying body. The land-based body has a cabin that can accommodate 4 to 5 people and adopts an extended range hybrid power system. It can carry the flying body for movement and continuously replenish energy for the flying body.
Xiaopeng Motors Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng introduced at that time that split type flying cars have a wide range of application scenarios: they can not only vertically expand the travel boundaries of individual users, but also serve public utilities such as emergency and rescue.
The pricing strategy of land aircraft carriers has also attracted high attention from the market. The outside world predicts that the selling price of the car may be as high as 1 million yuan, but recent reports suggest that the selling price may be between 700000 and 1 million yuan.
This price range makes it competitive with other pure electric or plug-in hybrid off-road models on the market. Especially considering its unique flight capabilities, land carriers have significant advantages in comprehensive performance and attractiveness.
During this year's International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Xiaopeng Huitian announced that this split type flying car will start booking in the fourth quarter of this year and plans to start mass production and delivery in the fourth quarter of next year.