Flying taxi: XPENG X2's first public flight in Dubai 'major breakthrough'

DUBAI: China’s XPENG AEROHT, which raised $500 million last year, held on Monday the first public demonstration of its X2 flying taxi in Dubai, on the sidelines of GITEX 2022 currently ongoing in the emirate.

The X2 is a two-seater eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) flying car, equipped with an intelligent flight control system and autonomous flight capability. It produces zero carbon dioxide emissions during flight, and is designed keeping in mind low-altitude city capabilities. It can reach a maximum flight speed of 130 kilometres per hour.

“Coming to Dubai, we're very excited that we received Dubai Civil Aviation Authority's approval for the first public flight. This is a major breakthrough for us,” said Brian Gu, Vice Chairman and President of XPENG, during an interaction with the media.

“We also recognise the potential of being here in Dubai, a city of innovation. We think there's a perfect match between XPENG AEROHT flying car and the dynamic city of Dubai,” he added.

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At a presentation before the demo, he thanked the company’s strategic partner, Dubai International Chamber, one of three operating under Dubai Chambers, “that has supported us throughout the year,” and the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority for “meticulously examining the risk profile of this project, making sure that we have full compliance of regulation and making this test flight possible.”

Hassan Al Hashemi, acting president CEO of Dubai Chambers, said the demo was not so much “about the concept and innovation but about how we as humans have pushed boundaries to bring the best in innovation... to launch this event in Dubai is a true testament to the future thinking of its leaders”.

Earlier this year, Nasser bu Shehab, CEO of Strategy and Corporate Governance Sector at Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), told Business Recorder that Dubai wants to introudce new modes of transport such as autonomous and flying taxis in partnership with top international companies.

Meanwhile, Gu also said that looking forward, AEROHT wants to produce a consumer focused flying car that can both drive and fly. A working model of its sixth generation vehicle will be presented later this month. XPENG had earlier said it will go into mass production and be available to customers in 2024.

AEROHT, over the course of nine years, has developed five generations of vehicles, explained Gu. He said the most recent one, X2, has autonomous navigation technology, autonomous evasion technology, and an active automatic deployed parachute for safety.

He added that the fundraising round last year made the company “the largest flying car company in Asia, successfully attracting many top shareholders, investors and allowed AEROHT to fully develop its business plan till commercialization.

"We actually have a very fully funded business plan that actually allows us to develop this project.”

An AP report said the X2 is one of dozens of flying car projects around the world, and only a few have been successfully tested with passengers on board, with the sector facing challenges like battery life issues and air traffic control and safety.