Henry Ford did not invent the motor car. The key to his success was his introduction of the moving assembly line and the affordable cars it could produce.
Twelve months from now, the modern day equivalent of Ford's moving assembly line will begin producing flying cars in bulk – and the equivalent of the built-for-the-masses Model T Ford is very likely to be this vehicle, the XPeng AeroHT Modular Flying Car.
Our estimate is that the package will cost around US$400,000 for both modules, with the land module "Aircraft Carrier" already pegged at $140,000, plus another $260,000 for the air module.
Though no price has been mentioned for the air module of the Modular Flying Car, the company has shown a slightly larger eVTOL at international motor shows that has been priced by company sources at around $200,000.
In February (2024), Chinese eVTOL maker eHang announced a suggested retail price of US$410,000 for its EH216-S pilotless passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft in global markets outside China, and things will obviously get cheaper in the long run.
Hence, while the total cost of both modules of XPeng's Modular eVTOL System is not expected to be higher than $400,000, it likely won't be a whole lot less due to the origami and miniaturization required to fold the two-seat eVTOL into the available space.
The 6X6 ground module might be notionally built to carry the air module, but in selling the vehicle separately, it's quite possible that XPeng intends to sell the cavernous ground module as an all-purpose SUV capable of being entirely repurposed within a few minutes by one person.
The robust three-axle layout uses rear wheel steering and is capable of loading and carrying quite heavy modules of the same size. It also has a huge battery and is capable of recharging the eVTOL air module multiple times ... or powering an entirely different recreational or commercial activity as required.
A cavernous SUV with a roboticized loading system and alternate modules could easily become a people carrier, food stall, traveling hair salon, disaster response vehicle, mobile medical clinic, the ultimate mobile office ... anything ... with a built-in power supply. Add autonomy to the ground vehicle and you might get a mobile home that can transport you 600 miles while you sleep ... and transform again for a different role when you get there.
The full story is far more complex and even more convincing, when you realize XPeng is already distributing its automobiles internationally and hence will have existing showrooms across the world in which to show its new air transportation options ... and it will get there years before the transport companies one might expect to be selling both land and air vehicles. Xpeng does not suffer from old-school thinking.
There is only one "car company" with a flying car nearing production, and funnily enough, it's also based in Ganghzou.
GAC (Ganghzou Auto Company) sold 2.5 million cars last year, also exports prolifically, and has a quite different modular flying car concept under development.
When it was experiencing difficulties with the development of its GOVE modular eVTOL, GAC reached out to eHang, another Ganghzou-based eVTOL company and XPeng AeroHT's most likely competition for leadership in the production of air vehicles for the world's Low Altitude Economy.
It seems that the physical proximity of key players in one location is already yielding synergy as eHang and GAC have begun cooperating on the development of the GOVE, with GAC offering intelligent manufacturing expertise and a host of other benefits to eHang in return.
That makes three global players (XPeng AeroHT, eHang and GAC) in this new market space that are all based in Ganghzou.
This isn't happening by accident.
The gargantuan sunrise industry known as the "Low Altitude Economy"
Guangzhou has been chosen by the Chinese Government to become a hub for the nascent low-altitude (up to 3,000 meters) industry, and 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) has been earmarked for investment before the end of 2026.
China is currently in the process of defining and taking ownership of the "Low Altitude Economy" and with an all-powerful governing entity actively supporting its growth, the world's hottest new sunrise industry is now manifesting in real time at warp speed ... and the global ramifications are likely to be massive.
The United States offers a vastly different regulatory climate to China. Instead of one vast country where politics are irrelevant to the best interests of the greater good, and regulations can be easily standardized across all regions, the US has an equally vast land where the laws change every hundred miles or so, and the Aviation Administration has a standard response to any deviations from the norm – NO!
With China's government now clearing the way, China will have a gargantuan first mover advantage in the global "Low Altitude Economy" and the financial resources to make it happen.
Sunrise industries have been rising and setting for millennia, though most would associate the term with the more recent information technology sectors such as social media, cloud computing, blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. A century ago, the automotive and aerospace industries were sunrise industries.
The world's "Low Altitude Economy" ultimately promises to be of greater magnitude than the automotive industry, at the same time as stimulating development across many current market sectors.
The aim is to commercialize both piloted and autonomous civilian aircraft and the $1.4 billion will be spent creating a city-wide infrastructure for flying vehicles, with over 100 take-off and landing points in Guangzhou, a large general aviation aerodrome and a fleet of airborne taxis.
By becoming the first city in the world to take its transportation system into three dimensions, it will also evolve the rules and standards for low altitude transport.
The aim is to gather all the related industries and specialist expertise in several hubs across China at the same time as creating a test-bed location for new services – think of it as a low altitude economy equivalent to Silicon Valley, or a 3D version of the Thames Valley motorsport manufacturing hub in the UK.
Chinese companies wishing to be part of the Low Altitude Economy are gearing up for the widespread commercial use of low-altitude aircraft, with the grand plan encouraging helicopters and eVTOLs to explore air commuting, business travel, aerial shuttles, cross-border flights, and the opening of a low-altitude air route between Guangdong and Hainan provinces.
The immensity of China's commitment to creating a Low Altitude Economy shows foresight seemingly lacking anywhere else in the world – by reimagining itself with a three-dimensional transportation infrastructure, Guangzhou will become the showcase for, and center of, a new way of living in cities.
It will also become a global manufacturing and expertise hub that can be expected to reap significant rewards as it supplies the necessary blueprints for other cities and countries to launch into a third dimension.
If you need any further convincing of the seriousness of this enterprise, the AeroHT comes with a liberal dash of the XPeng entrepreneurial spirit that birthed a car company a decade ago, and maintains a go-big-or-go-home mindset that is somewhat infectious.
From Wikipedia: XPeng was co-founded in 2014 by Xia Heng (Henry Xia) and He Tao, former senior executives at GAC Group with expertise in automotive technology and research and development. Initial backers included: the founder of UCWeb and former Alibaba executive He Xiaopeng, namesake and current Chairman of XPeng, and Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi. Prominent Chinese and international investors included Alibaba, Foxconn and IDG Capital. A further funding round in 2018 saw Alibaba's vice president Joseph Tsai join the corporate board of XPeng.
XPeng sold its first car in late 2018, selling 16,000 cars in 2019, 27,000 in 2020, 100,000 in 2021, 121,000 in 2022 and 141,000 in 2023. That number will continue to grow because XPeng is combining its total expertise to create next generation aspirational products.
With XPeng's global car sales beginning to sprout showrooms, the products produced by XPeng subsidiaries will have a ready showcase.
There's also a XPeng Robotics company that is exploring some quite remarkable projects, such as this ride-on quadruped for kids.
Just as Jobs, Woz, Gates, Moore et al became the faces of a new industry, He Xiaopeng is a name you'll see again as this industry emerges. He was one of the founders of the company which has already sprouted two major and promising subsidiaries with very relevant expertise and the backing of all the relevant authorities to plan, finance and manifest macro scale visions.
In late 2022, XPeng AeroHT signed a "strategy cooperation partnership agreement" with four leading Chinese banks (Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China CITIC Bank, and Pudong Development Bank), which granted the company a bank credit of RMB 6 billion to facilitate its flying car R&D and manufacturing.
In a world where time is the only commodity you can't buy more of, the key selling feature of this new industry will be reducing lost time – if you're currently spending an hour or more commuting, the flying car is likely to reduce your travel time by 80%.
Pre-orders will open for the Modular Flying Car at the Guangzhou Motor Show (15-24 November 2024) and deliveries to customers are expected in Q4 2025.
