The manufacturing site will be used to produce the flying body portion of Xpeng Aeroht's modular flying car, with a planned annual capacity of 10,000 units.
Xpeng Aeroht, the flying car subsidiary of Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV), has begun construction of its flying car manufacturing base, as it targets mass production and delivery by 2026.
The flying car manufacturing base, located in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, broke ground on October 27, Guangzhou-based Xpeng Aeroht announced today.
It is the world's first flying car factory to utilize a modern assembly line for mass production, and will be used to produce the flying body portion of its modular flying car, with a planned annual capacity of 10,000 units, the company said.
The production facility is located in the Guangzhou Development Zone and covers an initial area of about 180,000 square meters, Xpeng Aeroht said.
The site combines the high quality requirements of aircraft with the scale manufacturing capabilities of automobiles, which will result in better consistency in manufacturing, lower costs, and faster deliveries compared to the traditional aerospace industry, it said.
The flying body portion of Xpeng Aeroht's modular flying car recently completed its first manned test flight and will make its public maiden flight on November 12 at the China Airshow, it said.
The modular flying car will be available for pre-sale by the end of this year, the company said, repeating a previously mentioned timeline.
Xpeng Aeroht was founded in 2013 and is a tech unit majority-owned by Guangzhou-based Xpeng and its chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng.
Xpeng's development path for Aeroht's flying cars will include the eVTOL (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing) flying car and the modular flying car, it said at its October 24, 2023 Tech Day event.
The modular flying car in its entirety consists of a flying car, as well as a parent vehicle that can recharge that flying car.
Xpeng Aeroht will begin pre-sales of the modular flying car by the end of 2024, with mass production and deliveries in 2026, at a price of no more than RMB 2 million yuan ($280,880), its founder and president, Zhao Deli, said at a September 3 event.
Although official pre-sales have yet to begin, Xpeng Aeroht has already secured some pre-orders for the product.
Xpeng Aeroht held a closed-door meeting with a number of key partners on September 4, when it said it had received more than 1,000 pre-orders for its modular flying car.
On September 27, Xpeng Aeroht said it entered into a strategic partnership with two companies based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and secured pre-orders for 150 modular flying cars.
Xpeng Aeroht signed an investment and cooperation agreement with the Guangzhou Development District authorities on July 4 to receive support in the areas of land use, financing, and flying car application scenarios.
The company would build a research and development, manufacturing as well as sales center for flying cars in the Guangzhou Development Zone for conducting product testing, production, sales and operations, according to a press release at the time.
On July 25, 2022, Xpeng Aeroht put into operation its first pilot plant, located in Hualong Town, Panyu District, Guangzhou.
The pilot plant is primarily used for prototyping, process validation, and performance testing of flying cars prior to mass production, and is also being used to support pre-production research and testing for other programs.
($1 = RMB 7.1206)
Xpeng Aeroht gets 150 new pre-orders for its modular flying car
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