- A widely circulated 12-second video, suspected to be AI-generated, claimed BYD's ultra-luxury sub-brand Yangwang would launch a flying car named Ufly.
- A BYD executive said the company has no plans to launch flying cars.
BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) denied it would launch flying cars after such rumors circulated over the weekend.
Rumors about BYD launching flying cars are untrue, Li Yunfei, the Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) giant's general manager of brand and public relations, said on Weibo today.
"We have no such plans or arrangements. In the face of online traffic, we must exercise restraint!" Li said.
Over the weekend, a widely circulated 12-second video -- suspected to be AI-generated --claimed BYD's ultra-luxury sub-brand Yangwang would launch a flying car named Ufly and utilize BYD's 1-MW ultra-fast charging technology.
Articles published on some WeChat accounts claimed the Yangwang Ufly had completed cross-sea flight tests and obtained airworthiness certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
These articles also claimed the flying car covered 136 kilometers in just 23 minutes during a July demonstration, flying from Zhuhai to Shenzhen.
The information appears blatantly false at first glance, as BYD has never announced related plans, and obtaining airworthiness certification is a lengthy process.
Notably, while BYD isn't developing flying cars, multiple Chinese automakers have entered this space, betting on a new potential growth area.
By 2030, China could have 100,000 eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles) in households or operating as air taxis, according to a November 2024 report by the China Low Altitude Economic Alliance.
Xpeng's (NYSE: XPEV) flying car subsidiary Aridge has established a factory in Guangzhou for mass-producing flying cars, targeting mass production and delivery of its modular flying car by 2026.
Chery (HKG: 9973), GAC Group, Changan Automobile, and FAW Group are also developing their own flying car products.
Earlier this month, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp (JAC) established a laboratory to explore flying cars.
