Video: Xpeng VTOL Flying Electric Car Successfully Completed Its Maiden Flight Safely

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng has released footage of the maiden voyage of its phenomenal car that is propelled by a set of four helicopter-style rotors, eVTOL. It can drive on roads and navigate the airways.

This vehicle appears to be a typical car with a large drone mounted on its roof. However, the arms may be folded away, just like certain consumer drones, so that they don't protrude when you wish to drive the vehicle on the road like a regular automobile.

According to Xpeng, you actually still use the steering wheel when flying, and the experience of controlling it while travelling through the air wouldn't be all that different from simply operating a vehicle. In addition to using the steering wheel, the pilot would also need to operate a right-hand lever to move the vehicle forward, backward, up, down, turn, and hover.

We get to see it drive out of a garage (or hangar), then it is weighed, revealing that it weighs just under 2 metric tons (4,400 pound) before its eight massive rotors are activated and it takes flight.

Xpeng reports that the test went well and the vehicle landed successfully. It even stopped one or more of the rotors mid-flight to investigate what would happen if one or more motors failed while the vehicle was in the air.

Though it has been rumored that the VTOL sets to go into full production in 2024, but the company admits that it is challenging to lift a 2-ton car into the air and that it can only travel a limited distance on a single battery charge.

https://www.caricarz.com/en/news/the-future-is-nearly-here-xpeng-starts-testing-a-flying-car/2546