Flying cars might be closer than anyone expects, and electric vehicle companies might make them happen.
Tuesday morning, Chinese EV maker $XPeng(XPEV.US)$ -- as part of a consortium -- announced a financial investment in Chinese urban air mobility company HT Aero.
HT Aero was established in 2013 and designs flying cars. And the company is already showing off prototypes. Aero's two seat "X2" vehicle was at the 2021 Airshow China, which took place at the end of September in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.
An EV maker and a vertical take off and landing aircraft maker might not seem like a natural fit. But the X2 is electric and can utilize XPeng's charging technology. There is also overlap with autonomous driving technologies. Consumers flying their vehicles will need, at minimum, some help operating an aircraft without advanced pilot training.
There is some leadership overlap as well. Aero HT is partly controlled by XPeng founder He Xiaopeng.
"Our mission has always been to explore efficient, safer, and carbon-neutral mobility solutions that go beyond smart EVs," said the company's news release. "What we are seeing is the integration of the three driving forces of smart mobility--disruptive technology, new sources of energy, and mass production. We will embrace this opportunity, which is unprecedented in the history of modern transportation."
XPeng's idea might not be as wild as it seems. Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk was asked about electric planes at his company's 2021 annual shareholder meeting held in Austin, Texas on October 7.
"Electric planes, yes, I've been dying to do that for a decade, honestly, " said Musk responding to a shareholder question. "But we got quite a few fish to fry here. So maybe one day an electric plane."
Musk's fish are things like opening up two new plants and delivering the new Cybertruck -- all of which are slated to happen in the next few months.
The investment probably won't have a big impact on XPeng stock in the short run. There aren't a lot of details about when or how a flying car will be commercialized. XPeng stock is just about flat year to date, trailing behind 19% and 15% comparable, respective, returns of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com