City air mobility (UAM) firm AeroHT continues to make progress towards the “flying automotive” it has promised to ship by 2024. XPeng Huitian (aka AeroHT) not too long ago posted a video to Weibo demonstrating an eVTOL prototype taking off, flying round, and being maneuvered like a automotive. It has the XPeng Motors steering wheel and every thing – test it out.
AeroHT is the rebranded title of XPeng Huitian, a majority-owned entity of XPeng Inc. and founder He Xiaopeng. Since its basis in 2013, AeroHT has performed over 15,000 safely manned flights with the purpose of mixing automotive and aerospace applied sciences to develop secure, home electrical flying automobiles at scale.
This started with the T1 eVTOL (electrical vertical takeoff and touchdown) automobile in 2019, adopted by the X1 in 2020, which seems to be the mannequin demonstrated within the video beneath, provided that it doesn’t have a roof just like the X2.
Talking of which, the X2 is the corporate’s fifth-generation “flying automotive.” Though it doesn’t have wheels, AeroHT refers back to the X2 as a flying automotive, as a result of it shares a lot of the identical design DNA as the XPeng P7 sedan.
XPeng’s AeroHT has already shared video footage testing the X2 in extreme environments and excessive altitudes as it really works towards delivering its sixth-generation mannequin. This particular flying automotive was unveiled this past October and is scheduled to reach in 2024 and solely value about $155,000.
Right here’s a rendering video XPeng teased of the flying automotive final fall:
As you’ll see within the newest video from XPeng beneath, AeroHT nonetheless has a protracted strategy to go earlier than it begins delivering something near resembling a flying automotive.
That being mentioned, the footage does present promising progress in electrified flight and AeroHT is taking a novel strategy to the design that’s positively extra car-like. The steering wheel is a lifeless giveaway.
Try XPeng’s newest “flying automotive” video
The most recent flying automotive video was posted to the XPeng Huitian/AeroHT Weibo page right this moment, together with the next caption:
Many college students are interested by find out how to function a flying automotive. Huitian college students are additionally actively exploring and experimenting. We hope that the ultimate driving mode is as easy and simple to study as a automotive. We’re continuously experimenting with the ‘flying automotive management logic’ that integrates land and air to confirm its feasibility; on the similar time, we’re additionally exploring different attainable management strategies.
As you’ll see beneath, the eVTOL prototype is provided with an XPeng Motors branded steering wheel along with a throttle on the suitable. It seems just like the pilot makes use of the throttle to manage motion flying up, down, ahead, and reverse, then makes use of the standard automotive steering to maneuver left and proper.
Maybe that is the setup we will count on to see within the 2024 mannequin promised? The place do you set that throttle joystick if you’re in regular drive mode? XPeng is clearly engaged on it.
We had hassle pulling this video from Weibo as a result of we’re in a special nation, however shoutout to CnEVPost for placing it on YouTube. Take a look and tell us what you suppose.
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