Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp (JAC) has established a lab to explore flying cars, becoming the newest automaker to enter the field.
The company announced today that it established the joint laboratory on December 9 in Hefei, Anhui -- its headquarters city -- in collaboration with Beijing Institute of Technology and IAT Automobile Technology.
As low-altitude economy emerges as a national-level pillar industry in China, flying cars are entering a golden development period as the core, JAC said.
Flying cars, combining automotive and aerospace attributes, hold broad application prospects in emergency rescue, cultural tourism, and urban commuting, the automaker said.
However, constrained by key technologies, standards, and operational models, the industry still faces a series of common challenges requiring coordinated solutions across the supply chain, JAC noted.
The joint laboratory will leverage JAC's vehicle development capabilities to support the engineering of flying car products, it said.
Beijing Institute of Technology possesses expertise and talent in unmanned intelligent systems and aerospace engineering, having completed development of the world's first modular flying car, the UAM650 engineering prototype, in 2022, JAC said.
IAT possesses capabilities in vehicle platform development and core component R&D, enabling it to address complex integration challenges in power distribution, structural design, and electronic/electrical architecture for flying cars, the automaker said.
In November 2022, Beijing Institute of Technology unveiled a two-seat, split-body flying car engineering prototype capable of transitioning between land driving and aerial flight modes.
According to a CnEVPost report at the time, the autonomous vertical takeoff and landing aircraft has a maximum takeoff weight of 650 kilograms and a net payload capacity of 280 kilograms.
JAC said that the joint laboratory will explore applications in scenic sightseeing, emergency rescue, and low-altitude logistics.
Beyond companies like Ehang and Autoflight specializing in eVTOL (Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing) technologies, multiple Chinese automakers have developed flying cars or announced similar plans.
Xpeng's (NYSE: XPEV) flying car subsidiary Aridge aims to achieve mass production and delivery of its modular flying car in 2026.
Chery (HKG: 9973), GAC Group, Changan Automobile, and FAW Group are also developing their own flying car products.
By 2030, China could have 100,000 eVTOLs in households or operating as air taxis, according to a November 2024 report by the China Low Altitude Economic Alliance.
