Flying car is coming, Chinese EV maker Xpeng’s flying car company raises over $500 million as it aims to roll out in 2024

xizhimen

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Chinese EV maker Xpeng’s flying car company raises over $500 million as it aims to roll out in 2024​

PUBLISHED TUE, OCT 19 20215:00 AM EDT

Arjun Kharpal@ARJUNKHARPAL

KEY POINTS
  • HT Aero, the flying car company backed by Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng Inc. and its founder, raised more than $500 million from outside investors.
  • The money will be put toward research and development and rolling out a new model that has the ability to operate in the air as well as on roads.
  • The company is planning for an official roll-out of that flying and driving vehicle in 2024.
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Less than half a year since revealing a flying vehicle prototype, Chinese electric car start-up Xpeng unveiled a second model at the Shanghai auto show in April 2021.
Evelyn Cheng | CNBC

GUANGZHOU, China — HT Aero, the flying car company backed by Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng Inc. and its founder, raised more than $500 million from outside investors.

The money will be put toward research and development and rolling out a new model that has the ability to operate in the air and on roads.

Zhao Deli, founder and president of HT Aero, said in a press release that the company’s next-generation model will be a “fully integrated flying vehicle and automobile, designed for both low-altitude air travel and road driving.

The company is planning for an official roll-out of the new vehicle in 2024, Zhao said. However, he did not give a timeline for when the new vehicle will be launched.

HT Aero is an affiliate company of Xpeng, one of China’s electric vehicle start-ups. Xpeng’s founder He Xiaopeng as well as the electric car company itself are investors in HT Aero.

The new funding round was led by high-profile venture capital firms IDG Capital and 5Y capital as well as Xpeng. Other investors include Sequoia China, Eastern Bell Capital, GGV Capital, GL Ventures and Yunfeng Capital.

Flying cars — also called electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles — have garnered a lot of interest from automakers and start-ups. Companies including South Korea’s Hyundai, German start-up Lilium, and China-based Ehang are developing flying passenger vehicles.

In July, HT Aero launched the X2, its second flying car prototype and first that’s able to carry a passenger.

Xpeng’s founder He told CNBC in an interview last month that flying vehicles will be a part of the company’s future.

Still, such vehicles face a number of hurdles to get off the ground including regulatory approval to operate.

 

xizhimen

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I guess it requires more training to get a driver's license for this one.
 

Azeri441

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These flying car concepts are a joke, no government will allow these flying blenders inside city limits for safety reasons alone, from them possibly crashing into buildings, crashing into busy streets and etc.
 

xizhimen

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These flying car concepts are a joke, no government will allow these flying blenders inside city limits for safety reasons alone, from them possibly crashing into buildings, crashing into busy streets and etc.
Don't know, it's already in use in many areas in China

 

Jackdaws

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These flying car concepts are a joke, no government will allow these flying blenders inside city limits for safety reasons alone, from them possibly crashing into buildings, crashing into busy streets and etc.
*No SANE Government
 

xizhimen

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*No SANE Government
Lol, Some government ministers from a "sane" government encourage people to drink cow pee to cure Covid and suggest cows breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen.
 

xizhimen

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I don't doubt Chinese expertise wrt to Covid considering they unleashed the pandemic on the world with their dietary habits.
We don't doubt about Indian hygiene expertise either, which put India in a league of its own in every Human development index ranking chart.
 

Jackdaws

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We don't doubt about Indian hygiene expertise either, which put India in a league of its own in every Human development index ranking chart.
Of course you can't. Else 100,000 Chinese citizens wouldn't have begged for refuge in India.
 

xizhimen

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Of course you can't. Else 100,000 Chinese citizens wouldn't have begged for refuge in India.
Lol, no, one billiin Chinese want to move to Indian, paradise for the whole human race, global super power since 2012.
 

xizhimen

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Lol, me neither. So India super power 2012 should be in that book I guess. congrats you for being a super power for almost a decade already, truly impressive!
 

Jackdaws

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Lol, me neither. So India super power 2012 should be in that book I guess. congrats you for being a super power for almost a decade already, truly impressive!
As I said I wouldn't know. But it makes sense that the Chinese would lap up anything that their Communist media tells them. Haha
 

xizhimen

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As I said I wouldn't know. But it makes sense that the Chinese would lap up anything that their Communist media tells them. Haha
Like if the government tells us magic cow pee?
 

xizhimen

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Exactly. The average Chinese would "consume" whatever their Communist regime tells them - magic cow pee, cockroaches, rats, bats, dogs...
I don't think we consume cow pee than you guys, it's the national drink in India, isn't it?
 
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