Author |Gong Chenqian.
Edit |Ge Bangning.
Produced by |Bangning Studio (GBNGZS).
In the first quarter of 2024, one of the key words in the automotive industry may be flying cars. At the end of February, a group of spy photos of the test of a split flying car called the "Land Aircraft Carrier" were on the Internet, and caused heated discussions. The product adopts a three-axle six-wheel drive configuration, integrates electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft and ground transportation vehicles, and is produced by Xpeng Huitian, an ecological enterprise of Xpeng Motors. 
Land carrier spy photoOne month ago, at the 2024 CES (International Consumer Electronics Exhibition), Wang Tan, co-founder and vice president of Xpeng Huitian, announced that the "Land Aircraft Carrier" split flying car will be available for pre-order in the fourth quarter of this year, and mass production and delivery are planned to begin in the fourth quarter of next year. This shows that China's flying car is one step closer to landing. From the perspective of global development, overseas companies such as Jopy, Archer, Lilium, and Volocopter have relatively mature products and have obtained operating orders. Among these companies, Toyota Motor Corporation, Geely Group, Stellantis Group and other companies are important shareholders. In 2025, flying cars in the United States will enter the stage of commercial operation. China is picking up the pace of catch-up. Many automobile companies are actively deploying in the field of flying cars, and have recently made phased breakthroughs and entered the airworthiness certification stage. According to incomplete statistics, the layout of the field of flying cars includes China FAW, Dongfeng Company, Guangzhou Automobile Group, Geely Holding and Xiaopeng Motors and other enterprises. Among them, Geely Holding's latest product of Wofei Changkong was successfully tested in Chengdu, and the flying car team of Guangzhou Automobile Group is developing an intercity travel flying car in the Bay Area. In terms of the pace of development, Xpeng Motors is more aggressive. Not only that, domestic start-ups that develop flying cars are also reporting successes. On February 27, Fengfei Aviation (Shanghai Fengfei Aviation Technology*** completed the test flight mission of the world's first electric flying car cross-sea and cross-city air route (Shenzhen-Zhuhai). Relevant policies have brought greater support to flying cars. At the end of last year, the state clearly identified the low-altitude economy as a strategic emerging industry. Some local policies have been introduced to support enterprises to carry out EVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) flight tests. The active layout of enterprises, coupled with the support of national policies, has made many people in the industry believe that flying cars are another outlet after new energy vehicles. The evidence comes from the pursuit of the capital market. Since the beginning of this year, flying car concept stocks have continued to rise and fall. By February 26, its tail market rose significantly. Behind all this good news, how far are flying cars from the average consumer? 
The next tuyere
There are many opinions in the industry about the definition of a flying car. Some brokerage institutions believe that flying cars are equivalent to EVTOLs, and some people say that flying cars are a combination of EVTOLs and cars. Zhang Yangjun, a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Vehicles and Transportation, gave a more detailed explanation. In his opinion, flying cars can be roughly divided into three categories: first, cargo or manned evtol for mass low-altitude intelligent transportation; the second is a split land-air amphibious vehicle that can be separated from the EVTOL and the car; The third is an integrated land-air amphibious vehicle that does not separate the EVTOL and the car.
Xpeng Huitian split land-air amphibious vehicleZhang Yangjun believes that if EVTOL does not pursue the scale and low cost of mass intelligent transportation, nor does it consider the integration with ground transportation and the coordinated development of road and air integration, this type of EVTOL is generally not called a flying car. Flying cars are used in a wide range of scenarios. In terms of carrying people, flying cars can expand their business in three major areas. The first is the field of transportation, which can solve the problem of road congestion by building a three-dimensional transportation network. The second is the field of tourism, which can create new forms of tourism such as low-altitude sightseeing and island flight. The third is the field of medical services, which is suitable for medical emergencies, organ transplantation, remote treatment, etc. At the cargo level, cargo flying cars are used for low-altitude logistics and terminal distribution, which can effectively alleviate the pressure on urban logistics. In addition, various functional flying cars are also widely used in public services, including fire fighting, emergency rescue, agriculture and forestry plant protection, geographic surveying and mapping, etc. Flying cars have a broader future. According to market research firm Markets and Markets, the global urban air mobility (UAM) market is expected to grow from US$3.8 billion (about 27.4 billion yuan) in 2023 to US$28.5 billion (about 205.1 billion yuan) in 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of about 335%。To this end, aerospace companies, automotive companies, and start-ups have joined the R&D camp. As of 2023, more than 800 companies or institutions around the world are developing flying car-related products. Among them, most of the company's R&D direction is cargo or manned EVTOL, and automobile companies focus more on land-air amphibious vehicles. According to the direction of each company's R&D and manufacturing products, CITIC** summarizes it into three main tracks. One of the tracks, traditional aviation giants and automobile companies mainly adopt the investment or cooperative research and development model to lay out flying cars. The second track is an emerging EVTOL start-up company, focusing on EVTOL technology research and development and advanced aircraft manufacturing. On track three, some evtol manufacturers are working on building air mobility solutions. As far as the domestic market is concerned, some of the leading players have obtained the relevant certificates of the Civil Aviation Administration and have begun to prepare for the next stage of commercial operation. In October 2023, EH216-S unmanned manned aircraft system independently developed by EHang received the Type Certificate ("TC") issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, indicating that the design of the EH216-S meets safety standards and airworthiness requirements and is qualified for commercial operation. Other players are also stuck in the airworthiness certification phase. Generally speaking, before the flying car is delivered, it needs to be approved and approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. According to the "Aircraft Type Qualification Verification Procedure", the process before the certification of aircraft airworthiness is divided into four stages, namely the conceptual design stage, the requirement determination stage, the compliance plan formulation stage, the compliance proof and test implementation stage. How long is the process? Many experts said that there is no accurate timetable, for example, EHang's products took two and a half years, and for example, Wofei Changkong received the acceptance and approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China at the end of 2023, and it is expected to pass the airworthiness certification and product model certification in 2026. Experts from the ** Development Research Center of Geely Province believe that it takes 5 years for the airworthiness certification of ordinary flying cars. 
Car companies are accelerating their layout
As far as the camp of domestic automobile companies is concerned, Geely Holdings, Xiaopeng Motors or the first batch of enterprises to obtain relevant qualifications, followed by Guangzhou Automobile Group, and China FAW and Dongfeng are still in full swing for research and development. Among them, Geely Holding and Xpeng Motors completed the layout of flying cars through mergers and acquisitions; GAC Group has adopted a self-research and cooperation model to carry out the research and development of flying cars. Among the three, Geely was the earliest entrant. In 2017, Geely wholly acquired Terrafugia, an American flying car company, and entered the field of flying cars. In 2006, five MIT graduates founded Taili to develop flying cars. In 2009, Taili developed the world's first operable and practical flying car, which can run on the ground and fly in the sky. In 2010, Taili manufactured a dual-purpose transformer and was allowed to put it into commercial production by the U.S. aviation authorities. In 2020, Geely acquired Sichuan Aoshi Technology***, which focuses on the field of unmanned aerial vehicles. In the same year, Taili and Aoshi merged into Wofei Changkong New Company, building a pattern of parallel development of R&D, production and operation of drones and flying cars. At the end of 2023, the AE200, a product of Wofei Changkong, became the first manned manned flying vehicle in China to be approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China for airworthiness certification and acceptance, and completed the first flight mission. According to official data, the AE200 has a maximum range of 200 km and 300 km, and a maximum cruising speed of 250km h, which can meet the needs of commercial operations within urban agglomerations and between cities. After the completion of the airworthiness certification, Wofei Changkong can start commercial development work. 
Geely's Wofei Changkong AE200With AE200, Wofei Changkong has received 100 orders for flying car business aviation travel in Chengdu. At the same time, Wofei Changkong has also cooperated with a number of airlines to explore the commercial operation of flying cars. What benefits does this product bring? The relevant person in charge of Wofei Changkong explained: "The distance between the city of more than 200 kilometers is less than an hour from liftoff to landing. With 5 passengers, business ** is about 2 to 3 times that of a luxury car, saving four-fifths of the time. "Compared with Wofei Changkong, Xpeng Huitian products may be launched earlier, and the products will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025. However, the progress of Xiaopeng Huitian's relevant qualification application is not as good as the former, and it is still exploring airworthiness certification work. The predecessor of Xiaopeng Huitian, Dongguan Huitian, was born in 2013. In 2020, the founder of Xpeng Motors and Xpeng Motors acquired Dongguan Huitian and established Xpeng Huitian to enter the field of flying cars. In terms of product line layout, Xpeng Huitian adopts a multi-legged walking approach, and determines two development paths in 2023 - land-air integrated flying car and split flying car. The split flying car was mass-produced first, and the first product was named the "Land Aircraft Carrier". The product is composed of two parts: the land body and the flying body, the land body can be completely stored in the vehicle, the ground movement, and can also be automatically separated and combined. The land aircraft carrier "mothership" is equipped with a 4 to 5-person intelligent cockpit, matched with an extended-range electric drive system, which continuously replenishes the energy of the aircraft. The other part is a manned aerial vehicle, which can achieve vertical take-off and landing, and has two automatic driving modes: manual and automatic. The "land aircraft carrier" can meet the needs of individual users and some public service applications, and is expected to become the first flying car to land in the team of car companies. There are no plans for mass production of the all-in-one flying car. The product was unveiled at the 2024 North American CES, which can realize vertical take-off and landing, fly over congestion, obstacles, rivers, etc., to meet people's needs for short-distance low-altitude travel, and the actual application needs to match the future urban software and hardware and application scenario construction. Compared with Geely Holding and Xpeng Motors, GAC Group is a latecomer, starting the development of flying cars for less than 4 years, but the research and development speed is relatively fast, and the prototype research and development and first flight can be completed in a short period of time. In 2021, the GAC Flying Car team was established. Two years later, the first detachable flying car, the GOVE, was launched and the first flight mission was completed. The product can realize the separation of the upper and lower parts, the chassis can be heightened and thickened, and it is equipped with an extra-large battery to charge the upper flight cabin. 
GAC GOVE flightCarsGAC flying cars are still speeding up the landing process. As of late February 2024, the team has completed more than 200 flight tests and is currently working on the development of a Bay Area intercity mobility flying car with a larger passenger capacity and longer range. GAC Group is also cooperating with leading domestic companies in the development of flying cars. On February 6, GAC Group and EHang reached a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly strengthen the low-altitude market in R&D, production and sales. "In the near future, residents will be able to make an appointment through their mobile phones and take a flying car from downtown Guangzhou to downtown Shenzhen. "The person in charge of the GAC flying car team painted a beautiful picture. 
It will take 10 or even 15 years to actually fly
On the one hand, there is the entry of automobile companies, and on the other hand, the incomprehension of ordinary consumers. The Internet is full of all kinds of doubts about flying cars, and many netizens left messages in the official accounts of the above-mentioned companies, saying that they are not optimistic about the flying car project. Taking Xiaopeng Huitian as an example, someone wrote under the account, "I know it's not necessary, but I have to do it." Xiaopeng Huitian replied, "It is necessary, there is always someone who has to take the first step." "The next question is, when will flying cars fly into ordinary people's homes? On February 19, Hu Huazhi, founder, chairman and CEO of EHang, said at the Guangzhou High-Quality Development Conference that he would promote the commercial operation of the low-altitude economy, strengthen cooperation with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, and complete the formulation of industry standards for the commercial operation system in the second quarter of 2024. This will undoubtedly lay the foundation for the commercial operation of flying cars. However, some experts said that in the case of air safety control and safety guarantees in all aspects, commercial flights still have a long way to go, which is an important reason why ordinary consumers have been in the stage of "seeing but not touching" for a long time. In order for flying cars to really meet ordinary consumers, they may have to overcome many obstacles, and the relevant person in charge of Xiaopeng Huitian believes that there are four main problemsOne, technical difficulties, such as power, flight control, air autopilot, lightweight material application, safety integration technology, etc. Zhang Yangjun recognized that technology is a major difficulty. "In order to achieve rapid development of flying cars, intelligent driving of payload range and airworthiness safety are key technical issues that need to be solved. He emphasized. Specifically, the new energy power technology with high power density, high efficiency and high adaptability, the intelligent driving platform technology with high safety, high reliability and all-weather, and the three-dimensional intelligent transportation technology with safety and efficiency, cloud-network integration and road-air integration are the three key technological breakthrough directions. This is also the direction of the GAC flying car team's current efforts. They are deeply researching the ultimate lightweight design, and the breakthrough technology of high-torque density electric drive system, high-energy-density battery system, and high-safety and precision flight control system. Second, **Chain difficulty. The automobile industry chain has matured, but the aviation industry has developed slowly, and the same is true for the world, and the first-class system of land-air integration has not yet been formed. Third, policy and regulatory difficulties. The flying car market is still in its infancy, and mature products have not yet been launched, and the relevant regulations depend on the self-exploration of enterprises. In terms of infrastructure construction, airspace management and the construction of ground supporting facilities are also in their infancy, and their development is difficult. Because of this, Xpeng Huitian has decided not to sell the all-in-one flying car to the public for the time being. The product will be in the exploratory stage until the relevant policies are clarified. FourthThe business model faces difficulties in application scenarios. Despite the wide range of application scenarios, user acceptance is a big test because flying cars have not yet entered the use stage. On the other hand, manufacturers, operators, air service providers, regulators, etc. are not fully identified. "We need to solve the air mobility problem of a city, and there are many problems, including safety, policy, battery life, etc. The relevant person in charge of Xiaopeng Huitian believes that there is still some time before the arrival of real flying cars, which may take 10 or even 15 years. However, flying cars in specific areas will reach C-end users in the next 5 years. "At least the split flying car can be driven on the ground, and it can also fly first in some specific areas. He added. 
The good news is that China has clearly identified the low-altitude economy as a strategic emerging industry. The "Green Aviation Manufacturing Industry Development Outline (2023-2035)" released in October last year has a clear timetable - by 2025, the pilot operation will be realized; By 2035, a green aviation manufacturing system with integrity, advancement and safety will be built, and new energy aircraft will become the mainstream of development. All localities are also accelerating the development of low-altitude economy. During this year's local two sessions, the 2024 work reports of Beijing, Yunnan, Sichuan and other places clearly regarded the low-altitude economy as an emerging key development industry. "The development of low-altitude economy is a huge system project, which cannot be achieved overnight, and requires local governments at all levels to work for a long time and draw a blueprint to the end. China Air Transport Association General Aviation Business Department said.