Expand the boundaries of intelligent transportation with the Xpeng HT Aero…
It’s not quite the DeLorean, but a Chinese automaker with an eVTOL network recently showed off designs for their street- legal car which converts to a helicopter at the push of a button. The company, HT Aero, is an ambitious bunch, and say it will hit the streets/skies in 2024.
Xpeng is growing fast, pulling in US$2 billion in revenue yearly while shipping around 50,000 cars. It’s investing heavily in autonomy and charging, while rolling out cars like the P7 that offer more range than Tesla’s Model 3.
For their car/plane hybrid, it looks like an electric Bugatti hypercar with a pair of huge, folding propellers in the style of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. When it’s ready to take flight, the props come out of the tail at the touch of a button, then spin up and lift the car off the ground.
Such large diameter fans deliver better vertical lift than most small-rotor designs – ideal since this thing will need to carry the weight of an auto-folding eVTOL plus the weight of an electric car. When on the ground, the mechanism cleverly hides everything within a storage bay behind the cockpit – just like any Decepticon would.
The company says the number of batteries needed to meet the road performance (320 km range), mean it will have some kilos – at the moment it claims to cruise at 130 km with a 35 minute range.
While in the air, any malfunction results in parachutes being deployed to help it (not you) land safely. Cutting-edge sensors are also at play to detect if there are hazards before takeoff. The main requirement before flight though – owners need to obtain a special license and play by the rules.
The growing number of personal flight concepts might indicate where we’re heading in the fight to avoid traffic lights. Expect to pay about US$157,000 for this emission-free Swiss Army machine – when it’s released in two years.
By Bill Varetimidis
For the full article grab the January 2023 issue of MAXIM Australia from newsagents and convenience locations. Subscribe here.
