ChinaAutoInfo

On November 12th, the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition (hereinafter referred to as: China Airshow) officially kicked off in Zhuhai, Guangdong. On the first day of the exhibition, we conducted the global first public flight of the split-type flying car "Land Aircraft Carrier". The founder of XPENG AEROHT, Zhao Deli, demonstrated the automatic separation and combination process of the land "mothership" and the aircraft for the first time on site, providing a new imagination for the future use of flying cars.

Founder Zhao Deli introduces the "Land Aircraft Carrier" to the audience.

"Land Aircraft Carrier" Global Public Debut Flight

In the dynamic demonstration area of the second exhibition area of China Airshow, our "Land Aircraft Carrier" aircraft took off slowly, danced in the air with the accompaniment of music, and for the first time demonstrated the four major flight subjects of "low-altitude straight-line acceleration", "spiral ascent", "uniform descent", and "precise landing". The entire process used automatic driving, perfectly showing the precise control ability of automatic driving on the aircraft under different conditions. In the uniform descent subject, the flying body, like an eagle spreading its wings, flew towards the audience from a height of 80 meters and landed smoothly, with a clean and neat process.

The "Land Aircraft Carrier" aircraft supports both automatic and manual driving modes. The air automatic driving mode can achieve automatic route planning, automatic cruise flight, intelligent one-click return, all-directional air fusion perception, and landing vision assistance.

The intelligent manual driving mode of the aircraft subverts the traditional complex control method of fixed-wing and helicopter hands and feet, adopting our pioneering aircraft single-lever manipulation system, which can be controlled with one hand and one lever. It takes only 5 minutes to get started and 3 hours to become a master. With "comfort" and "sport" dual driving mode options, users can both feel the relaxed and pleasant comfort mode and experience the fun of manual control in sport mode. During automatic flight, the pilot has priority control over the aircraft and can take over at any time through the lever. After taking over, the aircraft can be manually driven. Whether it is manual driving or automatic driving, the intelligent flight control navigation system always maintains intelligent posture protection, always controls the flight parameters within a safe range, and maintains safe and stable flight.

"Transformer" Easily Solves Mobility, Storage, and Recharging Problems

"Just a light touch on the phone, and this 'Transformer' next to me will automatically release the aircraft from the land 'mothership'," said Zhao Deli, the founder of XPENG AEROHT at the airshow. This is our world's first vehicle-mounted automatic separation and combination mechanism, which can be controlled with a smartphone or smart key with one click, and only takes 5 minutes to put the "airplane" into the car and automatically release the "airplane" from the car, without manual operation.

This is our newly developed ultra-high-precision parking and high-stable motion coordination technology, which allows the land vehicle to accurately align with the air vehicle without the need for the air vehicle to move, enabling it to be smoothly incorporated into the land vehicle. This system involves 8 major control modules and 14 actuation mechanisms of the land body and air body, and after precise adjustment, it allows the air body to smoothly enter and exit the land body.

In this innovation from 0 to 1, the land "mothership" is not only a transport vehicle but also a storage and recharging platform. It can solve the three major pain points of traditional aircraft during the use process, "difficulty in movement", "difficulty in storage", and "difficulty in recharging". It's like giving the "airplane" a mobile "home", allowing the "airplane" to recharge energy in the "home" and enter and exit the "home" door automatically. In addition, when the aircraft is stored on the car, it is firmly fixed, and the dual-level buffering system composed of 6-wheel active suspension also greatly reduces the vibration of bumps, making the transfer and storage of the aircraft more secure. This mechanism can also adapt to complex terrain and weather, and it is a real "land aircraft carrier", allowing users to achieve "free movement, free flight".

In addition to dynamic displays, from November 12th to 17th during the airshow, friends of the audience can check in at our XPENG AEROHT booth at the Low-Altitude Economy Pavilion in Hall 8 of the Zhuhai International Airshow Center to get up close and personal with the "Land Aircraft Carrier" flying car. At the same time, starting today, the "XPENG AEROHT Flying Car" official mini-program is officially launched. Users can understand the latest dynamics and activity information of the "Land Aircraft Carrier" through the official mini-program, and can also participate in the "First Flight Reservation Activity" to have the opportunity to become the first batch of users of the "Land Aircraft Carrier".

Low-Altitude Economy Becomes Reality, Mass Production and Delivery in 2026

The "Land Aircraft Carrier" is our self-developed latest generation of flying cars. It is the world's only car that can carry a "plane" in the trunk and the world's only "plane" that can be stuffed into the car's trunk. The land body, also known as the land "mothership", uses a three-axis six-wheel design, which can achieve 6×6 all-wheel drive and rear wheel steering, with good load capacity and off-road capabilities. The overall design adopts a minimalist and sharp cyber-armor design language, like a lunar exploration vehicle. The car is about 5.5 meters long, 2 meters wide, and 2 meters high, can freely enter and exit underground garages, and can easily park in standard parking spaces, and can be driven on land with a C license. The aircraft is an electric six-rotor dual duct configuration, with the main body structure and propeller blades made of carbon fiber materials, which are both high-strength and lightweight, and a 270° panoramic cockpit provides users with an open flight view.

At present, our flying car manufacturing base is under construction. This is the world's first modern assembly line for mass production of flying cars, which will be used to produce the aircraft part of the split-type flying car "Land Aircraft Carrier", with a planned annual production capacity of 10,000 units, and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of next year. The flying car will be mass-produced and delivered in 2026.

2024 is regarded as the first year of China's low-altitude economy, marking a new stage of development in China's low-altitude economy field. As one of the world's top five airshows, China Airshow has always been an important window for China to showcase the latest scientific and technological achievements in the field of aviation and space to the world. This airshow also set up a low-altitude economy pavilion for the first time, showing products, technologies, and commercial progress in the low-altitude field. We hope that through unremitting efforts, XPENG AEROHT flying cars can become a new business card for Chinese aviation and provide a Chinese "idea" for the development of the global low-altitude economy.