The company plans to mass produce the flying car in the next two years, with the goal of selling 5,000 units, Wang Tan, co-founder and chief designer, told the South China Morning Post on Thursday during a panel discussion at its China conference.
“The first flying car that Xpeng AeroHT delivers will be in China next year,” he said. “First we will sell it in mainland China, and then worldwide. Maybe in the Middle East, maybe in Hong Kong. I think we will get that chance.”
An exact release date for Xpeng AeroHT’s flying car has not yet been set, Wang said.
Founded in 2013, the company began developing the vehicle ten years ago. It has a research center and test base in Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province and the headquarters of Xpeng, as well as research laboratories in Shenzhen and Shanghai.
“The government is very positive and supports us with regulations and policies,” Wang said. “We still need to develop our technology to ensure that our product is the safest aircraft. Today we have many pilot zones in mainland China, and in the future there will be more pilot zones every day. This is a very good start.”
The company developed all of the eVTOL’s technology itself, including the powertrain and flight control system, Wang said.
“AeroHT is now the largest flying car company in Asia,” he added. “We have 1,000 employees. We will provide the best technology for our flying cars.”
In March, the flying car startup announced that its AeroHT Voyager X2 had completed a low-level flight in Guangzhou’s central business district.
In April, AeroHT signed a preliminary agreement with the district government of Panyu, another district of Guangzhou, to jointly build take-off and landing pads for flying cars.
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Experimental electric flying car begins test run in northern China
Experimental electric flying car begins test run in northern China
German company Lilium raised $830 million in a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) transaction on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2021. American electric flying taxi startup Joby raised $1.6 billion in another SPAC transaction the same year.
