Meet the Six-Wheel Hybrid With an eVTOL in the Trunk
Xpeng Aeroht brought its modular flying car to CES. This six-wheel ‘Land Aircraft Carrier’ can travel off-road carrying an eVTOL and charge it up for flight at the same time.
This is not your average six wheel hybrid behemoth car if such a thing exists. This one has a surprise in the trunk. Have you ever wished you could carry your own personal flying machine in the trunk of your car? This land aircraft carrier from X-Pan Aero could be the answer. Because of their small size and how heavy batteries for electric vehicles can be, most personal EV tolls we see are pretty low range and require some kind of separate trailer. To transport them to their take-off point. That’s where this six wheel mother ship comes in. Not only is it designed to transport a two seat personal flying machine off-road to whatever scenic lookout you’d like to fly around, it can also act as a charger. So when you arrive at your destination, the EV toll battery is full and ready to fly. Expan Aero’s co-founder and vice president Wong Tan tells me the decision to make the mother ship a hybrid vehicle was made to extend the range up to 1000 kilometers or 621 miles. A full tank of gas and a full charge on the mother ship can recharge the EV toll in the trunk up to 6 times. As far as safety goes. X-Man Aero says it’s a top priority. Redundancy is built into everything from the flight system to the controls. Under some of the propellers are duct fans, which can keep the aircraft stable in case of an issue with the propellers. A joystick is the primary control mechanism, and a set of buttons right next to it performs much of the same functions as a backup. We couldn’t sit inside the mothership this time, but Xant Aero did let us inside the EV toll module, which has already conducted manned test flights. As you can see, it’s pretty cozy in here. I’m about 5’11 in change, so. I’m not hitting my head on the roof. I have enough room for my feet. Uh, it feels pretty good. If you’re a few inches taller than me, you might be hitting your head if I really stretch, I can hit the roof, but this thing has to be compact because it’s got to fit in your trunk. I’ve personally never seen anything like this. The closest thing visually, I’d say is the cybertruck because of the light bar in the front and the overall shape and color. However, XPin Aero’s modular flying car serves a very different purpose. Actually, I think this form follows the function. Why we have this design, I think not just for who, I think it’s more for the capability of this vehicle, for the extra weight of this and have the capability to go off road. And secondly, we think about how to make it futuristic like we bring it from the future. Despite its sci-fi design, Xan Aero says this is not a concept car. They’re planning to mass produce it. They’re working on getting regulatory approval in China, already have over 3000 intent orders, and expect to start delivery in 2026. The company says the modular flying car. Will be available first in China for under $300,000 with hopes to expand to other markets in the future. What do you think of the X-Pan Aero land aircraft carrier? Let us know down in the comments. Thanks so much for watching. Subscribe to CNET for the latest and greatest tech news. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna take off.