This is the new XPeng Aeroht, one of the first ever flying cars for ‘the real world’.
It’s just been unveiled at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, and there are a couple of reasons why this is more than just vaporware.
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According to XPeng co-founder and chief designer Wang Tan, the Aeroht is designed to solve a very specific problem.
The goal is to cater to people who want an eVTOL flying supercar for short distances and low altitude.
In other words, people that want to go from A to B and beat the traffic.
This is an issue that several companies are trying to address.
Elon Musk’s Boring Company, for example, launched a Tesla taxi service that runs underground beneath the streets of Vegas.
This car, in theory, would do the opposite.
In that it would be flying above the ground rather than under it.
The idea is that most people that commute to work generally only need to cover short distances.
However, it still ends up taking forever because of traffic.
With the Aeroht, you wouldn’t have that problem.
Obviously, the implied question no one is asking is: what happens when you’ve got a bunch of flying cars and the sky is congested, too?
But that’s a problem for later, and it definitely doesn’t apply now because this technology is still new.
According to XPeng, the Aeroht has two modes.
In land mode, every appendage designed to fly folds and the car looks totally normal.
In flight mode, it opens its arms and becomes an eVTOL, a vehicle capable of taking off and landing on the spot.
There’s no need for a runway.
The car is electric – no surprise there – and it’s not cheap.
It costs around $200,000 and should be available to order later in 2024.
