- Chinese electric vehicle upstart XPeng Inc XPEV Aeroht won a special flight permit from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the country’s counterpart to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, TechCrunch reports.
- Aeroht’s X2 electric vertical can take off and land aircraft to fly with a pilot under particular conditions.
- Aeroht looked to launch a series of manned flying tests to accumulate data for future mass production.
- Aeroht’s X2 is a two-seat, carbon fiber quadcopter without wheels. However, the firm’s next-generation aircraft appears to be a sedan with wings.
- For now, X2 is capable of “future low-altitude city flights and is perfect for short-distance city journeys like sightseeing and medical transportation.”
- It can be operated manually or in an autonomous mode. The model has flown over 3,000 tests since its maiden flight in June 2021.
- Aeroht is one of two ventures that have come out of nine-year-old Xpeng and pocketed over $500 million in a Series A round in October 2021.
- Xpeng Robotics raised a $100 million Series A round last July.
- Xpeng pushed back its profit goal until 2025 after a disappointing 2022.
- Xpeng battled a price war with Chinese EV maker BYD Co, Ltd BYDDF BYDDY.
- Price Action: XPEV shares traded higher by 0.45% at $11.18 premarket on the lat check Thursday.
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