China: Xpeng's Plans for 'Flying Cars' and Robotaxis

Xpeng is working on two flying vehicles, one fully electric model and one hybrid. The company is calling these “flying cars”.

Vice Chairman and President of the Chinese EV maker, Brian Gu, told Reuters that he expects to start large-scale production of these vehicles in 2027. 

Flying EVs could shake up the global mobility industry. McKinsey has predicted that by 2030, passenger advanced-air-mobility operators could rival today’s largest airlines in flights per day and fleet size.

The flying EV

Xpeng’s Land Aircraft Carrier, which the company also refers to as a “flying car”, has global orders currently exceeding 7,000 units. The Land Aircraft Carrier is made up of a fully electric flying vehicle with a grounded car component and designed for individual short-haul flights. 

The company says that the Land Aircraft Carrier introduces an “intelligent air cockpit and a four-axis integrated single-stick control system”, enabling “even novices to easily master it through training”. 

The vehicles mass production plant started trial production in November of 2025 and successfully rolled off the first aircraft. 

Xpeng's planned annual production capacity is 10,000 units, with an initial annual production capacity of 5,000 units. When operating at full capacity, one aircraft can roll off the production line every 30 minutes. 

The vehicle uses a six-axis, six-propeller dual-ducted configuration. The company says this ensures landing in case of two diagonal rotors failure. Its safety design covers key systems such as power propulsion, power energy, high and low voltage power supply, flight control navigation, flight operation and bus communication.

The A868 hybrid model

Xpeng also has a hybrid model designed for longer haul travel, the A868. It adopts a full tilt-rotor configuration. 

It uses an aviation-grade hybrid-electric core to provide continuous energy supply and is expected to achieve a long range of 500 km, with a maximum cruising speed expected to reach 360 km per hour. 

Its 6-seater cabin is designed to “meet the needs of business travel” according to the company. Both vehicles are designed for low altitude travel and built with Xpeng subsidiary Aridge.

Xpeng's robotaxi tech

Xpeng says its robotaxi is China's first full-stack self-developed and mass-produced autonomous vehicle.

It is equipped with 4 Turing AI chips, with on-board computing power reaching up to 3000 tera operations per second. 

Speaking to Reuters, ​Brian said the company would start robotaxi ​tests in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou this year and that 2027 will be a "critical ‌year" ⁠for "tests around the world with partners".

The company also says it works on humanoid robots with “a humanoid spine, bionic muscles, and fully covered flexible skin”. Large-scale production is expected in ‌the fourth quarter of 2026, according to Reuters. 

Xpeng’s EV strategy

Xpeng currently has a commercial partnership with Volkswagen. In March 2026 the first jointly developed car rolled off the production line.

The ID.UNYX 08 is an all-electric full-size SUV and makes up part of Volkswagen’s “In China, for China” strategy. 

Brian told Reuters that there is potential to increase cooperation with the German carmaker. Speaking to Reuters, Brian said that last year, Xpeng generated about 10% of its sales volume and around 15% of its revenue ⁠from ​overseas sales.