Helicopter Fleet Report YE 2023

SPECIAL FEATURE
XPENG AEROHT
Xpeng AeroHT was established in Guangzhou in 2020 as a
subsidiary of Xpeng Motors. Xpeng AeroHT’s highlight of the year
was the release of its “Land Aircraft Carrier” modular flying car. The
modular flying car consists of two parts: the land module, a smart
driving cabin for four to five people with range-extension design
capable of recharging the flying module multiple times. The flying
module is a purely electric piloted eVTOL capable of vertical takeoff
and low-altitude flight. It is primarily used for comprehensive
management in transportation sectors such as roads and
waterways. The product gained significant industry attention
upon its release and in December, Nanhu Research Institute for
Future Transportation signed an agreement with Xpeng HT for the
purchase of 100 of the “Land Aircraft Carrier” modular flying car.
model obtained a special flight permit on December 20th, but
the company mentioned that this verification model is not the
final configuration.
Early in 2023 Xpeng’s AeroHT’s Voyage X2 obtained a manned
eVTOL special flight permit. Subsequently, the X2 conducted
different flight tests in various regions of mainland China, including
crossing the Yellow River and flying across the Xiangjiang
River. Simultaneously, Xpeng actively collaborated with local
governments in China, aiming to use the aircraft in various
applications. The company previously stated that it plans to start
mass production of the Voyager X2 eVTOL in 2024.
In addition, Xpeng AeroHT’s full-tilt technology development
successfully completed a phase of experiments in December.
Unlike the Voyage X2 multi-rotor technology, the tilt-rotor
technology represents a new development direction for Xpeng
AeroHT in the future. The tilt-rotor technology verification
46 | YE 2023 ASIA-PACIFIC CIVIL HELICOPTER FLEET REPORT