Chinese Giant Xpeng Begins Flying Car Trials, Overtakes Tesla In Race For Airborne Mobility Leadership

Auto News: Xpeng Aeroht, the flying-car arm of Chinese EV maker Xpeng, has kicked off trial production at what it calls the world’s first smart flying-car factory in Guangzhou, marking a decisive step toward commercial use by building aircraft modules for its modular “Land Aircraft Carrier” concept and positioning China at the front of the global air-mobility race with a practical, assembly-line approach rather than one-off prototypes that rarely scale beyond show floors.

Where Is This Plant Located?

The advanced facility sits in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, on a footprint of roughly 120,000 square meters and is designed for industrialized production rather than boutique manufacturing, integrating automated lines, quality labs, and component testing so that teams can move from trial to volume without relocating, while proximity to the Pearl River Delta’s dense supply chain shortens lead times for motors, composites, power electronics, and flight-control systems.

How Many Units Per Year?

The factory is engineered to build up to 10,000 flying aircraft modules annually, with an initial ramp to 5,000 units, and planners say that at full steam one aircraft module could roll out every 30 minutes, which would make it the largest dedicated flying-car production site globally and a benchmark for others still stuck at prototype, thereby converting excitement into repeatable output that fleets and regulators can validate in real-world conditions.

What Exactly Is Being Built?

Xpeng’s modular flying car pairs a road-capable base vehicle with a detachable electric aircraft module, letting owners drive on roads and dock to lift off where permitted, and the company claims this design eases certification because the airframe and road car can be validated on their own tracks, while the docking system standardizes connections for power, data, and safety interlocks, enabling quicker service and future upgrades without replacing the entire vehicle.

How Does This Pressure Tesla?

While Elon Musk has teased a dramatic flying-car reveal soon, Xpeng’s move shifts the narrative from promise to production, giving China a time-to-market edge and forcing US players like Tesla and Alef Aeronautics to accelerate testing, partnerships, and regulatory work, since early deployments create brand familiarity with authorities and consumers, and each safe flight logged helps unlock corridors, insurance models, pilot training frameworks, and city-level operating rules.

Why Could Mass Adoption Happen?

Standardized modules reduce costs through shared parts, factories bring consistent quality, and urban planners get clearer data on noise, safety, and routes, while consumers gain a dual-use product that still functions as a car on rainy days and flies when conditions and rules allow, and with battery improvements and better flight controllers, range, payload, and stability continue rising, making air hops between districts or over bottlenecks feel practical rather than sci-fi.

What Should Buyers Watch Next?

Expect phased rollouts focused on pilot cities, limited operating windows, and strict no-fly zones as regulators study performance, plus subscription maintenance for rotors and batteries, comprehensive training for owners, and insurance tailored to both road and air risks, and as rivals launch, watch for differences in detachable vs integrated designs, certified flight time per charge, automated landing systems, and the breadth of service centers that can repair both modules quickly.