Shanghai (ZXZC)- On April 18, the Panyu District People's Government of Guangzhou City and XPENG AEROHT, an urban air mobility company and a subsidiary of XPeng Inc. ("XPENG"), signed the "Framework Agreement to Jointly Promote the Application of Flying Cars". 

Through the collaboration, the two parties jointly announced the initiation of infrastructure construction for flying cars, planning to establish the first four take-off and landing sites in the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center (HEMC), a university park in Guangzhou. 

This initiative aims to build HEMC into the country's first low-altitude economy application demonstration island.

Based on research and analysis of future B2B and B2C demands, the government of Panyu District and XPENG AEROHT jointly launched a list of exploring application scenarios for flying cars. These scenarios encompass urban short-distance trips, low-altitude aerial sightseeing tours, educational outreach, emergency rescue, aerial logistics, surveillance patrols, and more.

The project initially plans four take-off and landing points in Guangzhou HEMC, connecting approximately a 17-kilometer aerial route around the Xiaoguwei Island, complemented by infrastructure supporting the takeoff and landing, parking, recharging, and communication of the flying cars. 

Upon the completion, these sites will effectively meet the R&D and operation needs of flying cars, facilitate scenarios such as low-altitude aerial tourism and intra-island short-distance travel, and provide invaluable insights for constructing future urban three-dimensional low-altitude transit networks.

Photo credit: XPENG AEROHT

During the event, the XPENG X2 flew a loop around the the riverine greenbelt along the Pearl River in Guangzhou HEMC before returning to land, all done in automatic driving mode.

Zhao Deli, the founder and President of XPENG AEROHT, said, "The construction of infrastructure for flying car take-off and landing points in the HEMC is the first step in establishing an aerial travel network. We believe it will be promoted throughout the city and even nationwide in the future."