Moving ahead to the next-generation in the world of transportation, a Chinese firm this week began trial production of flying cars stated to be ahead of U.S. firm Tesla and others plans to launch the same shortly.
How Did This Happen?
On November 3, 2025, the flying car affiliate of Chinese electric vehicle maker, Xpeng Aeroht, began trial production at the world’s first intelligent factory for mass-produced flying cars achieving a milestone in the commercialisation of next-generation transport.
The plant is located in the Huangpu district of Guangzhou, the capital of south China’s Guangdong Province.
Its 120,000-square-metre plant has already rolled out the first detachable electric aircraft of its modular flying car, the “Land Aircraft Carrier”, reported by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
They have designed this facility to have an annual production capacity of 10,000 detachable aircraft modules having an initial capacity of 5,000 units.
The plant has the largest production capacity of any factory of its kind and it will be capable of assembling one aircraft every 30 minutes once fully operational, as per the report.
Interestingly, this development by Xpeng is announced ahead of Tesla launching its flying car version.
In the meantime, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that his firm is getting closer to building a flying car as per the media report.
Mr. Musk was quoted as saying, “We’re getting close to demonstrating the prototype.”
Unforgettable
Adding, “And I think this will be … one thing I can guarantee is that this product demo will be unforgettable.” “Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable.”
Mr. Musk just said the unveiling “has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever”, on the questions about the technology, like whether the automobile would have a “retractable wing”.
The car would “hopefully” be unveiled “in a couple months,” said Mr. Musk.
Besides these firms, another U.S. firm, Alef Aeronautics has demonstrated its flying car test runs with an announcement that its commercial production will begin soon.
Alef Aeronautics CEO Jim Dukhovny in an interview to Fox News said his firm has already secured over a billion USD pre-booking orders.
It will be driver-driven cars with light plane flying licences besides driving licenses.
The company said that it has secured orders for nearly 5,000 flying cars since its product release, and mass production and delivery are scheduled in 2026.
Coming to this flying car, it comprises a six-wheel ground vehicle which is referred to as the “mothership”, and a detachable electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
When it comes to the Xepeng’s eVTOL cars, they offer both automatic and manual flight modes.
The car comes with automatic mode that enables smart route planning, as well as one-touch take-off and landing.
It is offered at about 5.5 meters in length and it can be driven on public roads with a standard licence and parked in regular spaces, as per the media report.
The 50-odd EV builders of China exported a total of 2.01 million pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles overseas in the first eight months of the year, up 51 per cent from the same period a year earlier as per the data from China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
But the Chinese EV makers are facing push back abroad as the EU has imposed a 27 per cent tariff on Chinese EVs to limit their sales in the bloc.
The Chinese EV makers are victims of discount wars and chronic overcapacity on the mainland global consultancy AlixPartners domestically as mentioned in a report published in August.
