A FUTURISTIC mega car comes complete with its own foldout aircraft that pops out of the boot.
The mind-blowing vehicle might appear to be something James Bond’s Q had dreamed up for the fictional spy but this six-wheeled electric car is very much real.
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The Chinese company AeroHT is likely to launch its Land Aircraft Carrier (LAC) in 2025.
The off-road van-like vehicle is capable of stopping and deploying a two-seat, multi-rotor eVTOL aircraft.
While the car was first displayed at a tech day held by AeroHT’s parent company Xpeng last October it seemed more like pie-in-the-sky dreaming rather than a concrete reality.
But then AeroHT made a production announcement at this year’s CES and Xpeng is moving forward with the Chinese airworthiness certification process needed.
AeroHT is currently calling the vehicle a modular flying car and while it may at first seem to be something out of a fantasy sci-fi film it is looking very much like it will become a reality.
The company says it is preparing the Land Aircraft Carrier for preorder by the last quarter of this year and has plans to begin deliveries in the last quarter 2025.
In late March, AeroHT had its application for type certification accepted by the Civil Aviation Administration of Central and Southern China (CAAC).
That has let the company move forward and request an airworthiness certificate to start carrying out flight tests.
It is not clear yet how the vehicle might end up being certified for sale, or what licence you would need if you bought one.
AeroHT’s LAC design sees the ground vehicle similar to a van-like people carrier with an extended-range electric 6WD.
The dual rear axle means there is extra length at the back which can hold the compact two-seater eVTOL which fits in behind the second row of its five-person cabin.
Along with six driven wheels, a rear-wheel steering system helps improve all-terrain manoeuvrability.
The aircraft is also all-electric and capable of vertical takeoffs and landings.
It docks and charges on the ground-based hybridised “mothership” before take off.
It is designed for both manual and automated flying, featuring six propellers of electric propulsion.
AeroHT though has to still go forward with the separate automotive certification process for the six-wheeler.
It has already demonstrated its ballistic failsafe parachute in action on a full-sized prototype.
It comes as eHang’s two-seater air taxis are already fully type certified an in commercial service in China, while the FAA and EASA are likely at least a year away from certifying any eVTOL aircraft in the US or Europe.
The eHang aircraft is also fully autonomous.
In February 2024, China successfully completed the world’s first inter-city test flight of an electric air taxi in its quest to revolutionise travel.
The demonstration, organised by AutoFlight, was carried out between the southern Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai, on February 27.
It comes as flying taxis will no longer be a faraway concept but a reality in a holiday hotspot much loved by Brits.
A Californian company has signed a deal with Dubai which could see tourists ferried across the UAE city by flying taxi from next year.
The luxury means of travel will involve paying passengers booking their desired trip through an app and waiting at “vertiports”, similar to today’s airports, for a propeller-powered taxi to pick them up.
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And Dubai’s dramatic skyline will soon be filled with buzzing passenger drones ferrying tourists and commuters.
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