Could it be? When XPeng filed patents on a flying car and promised a 2024 launch date, it seemed easy to dismiss. But now … ?
it has been hard to believe that we could conceivably, actually see flying cars in our lifetime. But maybe we’re one step closer now. Recent spy shots from Chongqing have leaked of the XPeng flying car on the road.
XPeng Heitech is an automotive giant in China, and they’ve presented fully five versions of a flying car concept since 2016. However, what has dampened enthusiasm amongst some gearheads is that these “cars” have never looked like your traditional passenger vehicles with wheels – basically, they haven’t looked like what most people think of as “cars.”
This sixth generation finally looks like something you’d call a car, just it’s a car with its rotor casing on the roof. It looks like it uses a heavily modified version of the XPeng P7 body but with its wheels moved forward, giving it a longer overall build. Plus, its shock absorbers appear thicker – which would probably be an advantage if you were to ever actually take this thing for a flight and brought it back down to terra firma a bit more quickly than you’d intended. (!?)
The spy shots show a large casing on the roof to hold in the rotors when they’re not in use – which makes sense, because one of the challenges of designing a flying car/driving drone like this would be locking the rotors properly to prevent damage to them when you’re driving (which would explain the heavy-duty top box).
You’d probably also want to keep the rotors from getting jostled around by potholes and vibrations. As such, XPeng Heitech might be testing different suspension systems to prevent that shaking, which would explain the thick cables connecting the rotor casing to the car you can see in the spy spots.
XPeng Flying Car Spy Photos
XPeng Heitech has said that this flying car, once officially unveiled, will weigh two times less than the XPeng 7, which weighs 1,920 kg (a little over 4,232 lbs). And, while the flying car seems like it’s still early stages when it comes to testing, XPeng is sticking to its plans to launch the flying car in 2024 with an expected price tag of 1 million RMB (approx. $157,000).
Check out the images from the company’s official patent filing, below, then let us know what you think of the Chinese transformer in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
XPeng Heitech Flying Car Patent Art
SOURCE | IMAGES: CAR NEWS CHINA.
