Vehicles of tomorrow move step closer to takeoff

Prototype unveiled

In addition to Xpeng Aeroht, Alef Aeronautics, a United States startup based in Silicon Valley, California, is exploring the possibility of launching flying cars.

As the company unveiled its Model A prototype last month, its CEO Jim Dukhovny told journalists, "A flying car has to be a car, which means it can drive on a regular street and park in a regular parking space.

"It also should have vertical takeoff. If you require an airport for takeoff, what problem are you solving? And why is this a flying car?"

The electric Model A — the size of a large sedan — has four wheels, and its mesh-covered body conceals eight propellers, which allow it to take off vertically.

Once airborne, it tilts 90 degrees so that the top of the car faces forward, before proceeding to fly at speeds of up to 56 km/h.

The model has a driving range of 322 km and a flight range of 160 km. Dukhovny said the car will cost $300,000, and production and initial deliveries could start in 2025. The startup is taking orders on its website for the first models.

In addition to startups, many established carmakers are exploring opportunities in the promising sector, but most of them are working on conventional flying cars — those that cannot be driven on the ground.

In July, Volkswagen Group China unveiled its first such attempt. This model, which has an x-wing configuration 11.2 meters long and 10.6 m wide, is powered by eight rotors for vertical lift and two propellers for horizontal flight.

The company said the car — based on current autonomous driving solutions and battery technology — is part of its strategy to explore and break new ground in fully electric and sustainable individual mobility concepts.

It will conduct several test flights before the end of this year to optimize the concept, and an improved prototype will undergo further advanced test flights in late summer next year.

In the future, this fully electric and automated eVTOL could carry four passengers and luggage for up to 200 km, the company said.

Volkswagen Group China added that the vehicle is likely to be pitched initially as a premium product for high net worth and tech-savvy Chinese customers using VIP air shuttle services, for example.

In China, the vehicle is set to play a significant role in transportation between congested megacities, the company said.

The carmaker launched the vertical mobility project, which includes developing the urban air mobility market and taking urban traffic into airspace, in 2020.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which owns Volvo, was one of the first carmakers to enter the flying vehicle sector.

Last year, it teamed up with German company Volocopter, which specializes in making autonomous air vehicles, to establish a joint venture in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, which will oversee production and market operations for Volocopter products in China.

The joint venture, which plans to help promote urban air mobility in China over the next three to five years, has signed orders with Volocopter for 150 aircraft, including unmanned logistical aerial vehicles and manned aircraft.