XPENG’s Flying Car to Launch in 2025

The Chinese manufacturer XPENG claims it can sell its flying car by 2025. Deliriously excessive optimism?

While many are stubbornly sticking to the idea of a car with foldable wings, XPENG has approached the issue from a different angle. Drones, and with them the management of a platform in all dimensions, are already mastered by the Chinese manufacturer. Same with electric cars, energy management, weight, etc. Here’s the drone-car, the first of its kind. Which will go down in history thanks to its vertical takeoff capability (eVTOL).

The ambitious company took advantage of the Las Vegas CES media showcase to claim it can sell its car in less than 2 years. We are not focusing solely on the design, which is obviously divisive to attract attention. Notably, transparent doors are used to increase pilot visibility during flight. Well done!

The sleek shape of the body, wheel fairings, and other details emphasize the importance of optimizing air penetration and reducing drag. At least there has been real engineering work in this area.

XPENG used this high-profile presentation to specify that the 8 rotors retract into the body of the vehicle when on the ground before unfolding when conditions permit, for short-distance, low-altitude travel. A subtle nuance… The Chinese firm claims to have limited the total mass to 1 ton, which would be an incredible achievement. Should we interpret this as meaning the flight autonomy would only last a few minutes, enough to leave the congested city center?

In any case, excitement is running high at XPENG, which does not doubt the commercial success of its incredible device, priced at around 130,000 euros—another figure hard to believe. One thing is certain: our children will experience individual travel in the air. This is no longer science fiction.

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