Beijing grants permit to 'flying car' that can handle 'roads and low altitude'
- Reference: 1675165207
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/01/31/xpeng_flying_car/
- Source link:
The aircraft is the first manned electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle to obtain the permit and HT Aero's fifth-generation eVTOL.
Calling the vehicle a "car" seems like a bit of a stretch given that it has no wheels. The 4.97 x 4.78 x 1.36m (16.3 x 15.7 ft x 4.5 foot) carbon fiber body resembles a drone or quadcopter with retractable arms that reduce the width to 1.95m (6.4 ft).
[1]
On the corner of each arm sit two stacked rotors. The eight total rotors have a diameter of 1.83m (6ft) each and carry 560kg (1,235lb) – maximum 760kg (1675lb) – at expected cruising speeds of around 130kph (80mph).
[2]
The XPeng X2
The vehicle flies for up to 35 minutes at a max altitude of 1,000m (3,280ft) and is equipped with both manual and automatic flight modes. [3]According to XPeng exec Jiaxi You , the vehicle "can be driven on normal roads and flown safely at low altitude."
[4]Larry Page's flying taxi startup Kittyhawk calls it a day
[5]American Airlines reserves 50 flying taxis
[6]NASA tests flying taxis made by biz dreaming of being the Uber of the sky
[7]Heart attack victim 'saved' by defibrillator delivery drone*
The X2 completed its first successful flight in June 2021 and since then has flown over 3,000 test flights.
"After obtaining the chartered flight certificate, we will continue to carry out a series of manned driving tests to accumulate data and experience in research and development, flight tests, and more in preparation for mass production," [8]said HT Aero in Mandarin.
[9]
While the X2 doesn't exactly look much like a flying car, HT Aero's sixth generation is essentially a sedan with wings. The company plans to use the X2 certification to support the development of the X3, which should be available in 2024.
"HT Aero's sixth-generation road-capable flying car will build on the company's years of experience in developing eVTOLs, delivering an innovative vehicle for both land and air travel," said HT Aero, which claimed that the vehicle will not only "transition seamlessly from road to air" but also be "fully equipped with autonomous assistant pilot functions using XPeng's signature intelligent OS." ®
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y9lJNZcAYyHOe0v0i5fDgQAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2023/01/31/xpeng_x2_.jpg
[3] https://en.xiaopeng.com/news/news_info/4079.html
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/22/kittyhawk_winds_down/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/18/american_airlines_vx4/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/02/nasa_joby_faa/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/06/defibrillator_drone_heart_attack/
[8] https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Fv8ff13CRlOUs-h2EFWI5A
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y9lJNZcAYyHOe0v0i5fDgQAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: That looks pleasingly lethal
"I wonder how they detect people standing in the arc of the propellers?"
Blood spatters on the cockpit. Sure sign.
Re: That looks pleasingly lethal
Its just the next iteration of the standard CLFM* design. There have been a series of these demonstrated over at least the last decade, all following the same general design: a central cabin supported by four knee-height rotors. None of them have had any way to keep people from entering an operating rotor's disc or to prevent the rotors hitting obstructions during landing or takeoff.
* Chinese Lethal Flying Machine
Re: That looks pleasingly lethal
Same way that people have been doing it for over 100 years.
You look with your eyes and then you yell CLEAR PROP!
Re: That looks pleasingly lethal
The thing with a vertical prop is that devices fitted with them tend to be operated by specialists in areas where the general public are excluded.
Chopper
What is the acceptable limit of heads chopped off during an average trip?
The population of China is so large, would they even notice?
Lethal is understatement...
Jeez, that would get you and your dog, hurling yourself flat won't save you!
Re: Lethal is understatement...
Think dual use!
This is a Lawnmower AND a Peoplemower.. ...errr... ..People Mover
If it could fly with the bottom two front rotors angled the wrong way, it would make a nice grass cutter for difficult-to-get-to fields.
"can be driven on normal roads.."
My definition of what that means must be different to theirs.
I'm surprised they havent encapsulated the rotors. First, there's the obvious danger to anyone and everyone in the vicinity during take-off and landing. Second, in the event of an emergency exit, the chances of someone escaping from, for instance, a burning X2 without catching a blade is pretty low, and thirdly, a blade off event (due to mechanical failure, bird strike, clipping something), means that blade is going to be launched at a very high speed, and the occupants have a very high chance of wearing the blade. That Carbon Fibre body is unlikely to stop a blade out event after all, or even slow it down.
Ok, I get why they probably didnt go for ducted fans - weight and complexity. But having witnessed a blade out test, and the damage that can do, I certainly wouldnt be getting into that "car" anytime soon.
As a motorcyclist, I'm terrified, but then I was almost killed this morning by some moron changing lanes without indicating or presumably looking.
Queen Boadicea rides again!
Scythed chariots were all the rage about, oh, 2,000 years ago. It's about time they made a come-back!
New definition of chopper
See title
More blades per prop and a strong prop shroud def needed and not sure we're quite there with energy density yet but, without any evidence to support their lofty claims, it seems like their gettin' on with it!
The auto fly/drive bit intrigues me.
Is it just fancy INAV like or more DJI ish?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6o3GNoU-vw
Thanks, but I'll pass on this one
Those blades look to be at a precarious level, too close to todgerville for me!
My kevlar chainsaw pants must be in here somewhere...
Re: Thanks, but I'll pass on this one
Those and a ground anchor!
Pointless, until it can transform from an aircraft to a car in a few seconds of touch down, for actually manoeuvring in a city to park and the reverse.
Monsieur Scaramanga, you've been watching too many James Bond films from the 70's!
Knick-Knack
XPeng's signature intelligent OS
.. which includes the option to powerdive the ground if the occupant is deemed to be surplus to requirement by the Communist Party..
In Maoist China, hardware owns you!
Energy used per mass unit
Every time someone starts with "flying cars", I start thinking about energy usage (forget about decapitations, mass accidents and general carnage).
The world is in the middle of an energy crisis. Gas (or petrol depending on where You are) prices are going through the roof.
We have several changes in usual habits - like people avoiding to fly, trains getting more used and so on.
And then we see this: what must be one of the most intensive and less efficient use of energy to move someone from "A" to "B". There must be a market for this, of course. No one said a Ferrari is efficient. But boggles the mind to see people investing all this time and engineering on something like this.
Or maybe I'm just an old grumpy git. Who knows?
Why?
Sorry, but I have never understood the obsession with flying cars. If you are rich, buy a helicopter or airplane and pay someone to fly it for you, or learn yourself. Something like that lethal X2 will inevitably be restricted to helipads and airfields, and given the potential for damage/injury, will probably be banned from those too. The requirements for regular inspections of such vehicles is going to cost just as much as those of a helicopter so yer gonna have to be rich just to operate one, let alone the energy/purchase costs. Nice idea, but the reality is that what goes up must come down (unless you manage to reach escape velocity) and that is where all the damage occurs.
On second look
This has to be the beta model... safety features are not ready for prime time yet!
A flying Sinclair C5. Awesome!
That looks pleasingly lethal
If you should chance to be standing a little close when it starts up or lands... I wonder how they detect people standing in the arc of the propellers?