Xpeng Aeroht says its modular flying car gets 2008 pre-orders at Airshow China

Xpeng Aeroht today announced that it has received pre-orders for 2008 units of its modular flying car, the Land Aircraft Carrier, at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, also known as Airshow China.

This is the world's largest order to date in the flying car space, with 12 customers from the transportation, tourism, real estate, and technology sectors, Xpeng Aeroht said.

The airshow is being held in Zhuhai, Guangdong province and will run from Nov 12 to Nov 17.

Yesterday, Xpeng Aeroht gave its modular flying car the world's first public flight on the first day of the event.

Founded in 2013, Xpeng Aeroht is a technology division majority-owned by Guangzhou-based Xpeng and its chairman and CEO, He Xiaopeng.

Xpeng's development path for Aeroht's flying cars will include eVTOL (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing) flying cars and modular flying cars, it said at its Oct 24, 2023 Tech Day event.

The modular flying car in its entirety consists of a flying car, as well as a "Mothership" that can recharge that flying car.

The "Mothership" is a large three-axle carrier with an EREV powertrain and a length of 5.5 metres. It stands on an 800V platform and can run up to 1,000 km in hybrid mode. The "Mothership" most likely adopts Xpeng's Kunpeng EREV powertrain.

The flying car hides inside the Land Aircraft Carrier. It can be released with a one-button push. Afterward, it takes only five minutes to put the flying car back in the carrier. The flying car looks like a large drone with a cabin for two occupants. It supports 5-6 flights on a full charge. The "Mothership" can charge the aircraft's battery from 30 to 80% in 18 minutes.

The flying car of the Land Aircraft Carrier performed a demonstration flight. It proved it is capable of low altitude linear acceleration, constant speed descent, and precision landing. What is more interesting, the aircraft did it autonomously without a pilot in the cabin. Previously, Xpeng AeroHT said this aircraft supports two flight modes: manual and automatic.

A video of the flight is below.

The facility will be used to produce the flying body portion of the modular flying car, with a planned annual capacity of 10,000 units, the company said.