Xpeng, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, is working to make flying cars a reality – possibly as soon as next year.

The company’s factory for flying-car manufacturing in Guangzhou, China, is up and running, with around 7,000 pre-orders already placed.

The aircraft, which resemble passenger drones, are being made in the 120,000-square-meter (1.3 million sq ft) facility. It plans to produce 10,000 units per year at a 30-minute takt time, according to Electrek.

While the factory isn't fully finished, it’s already being used to produce the vehicles, a dozen of which are at different stages of production.

The company is working on what it calls a “Land Aircraft Carrier,” which looks like a two-in-one vehicle.

The first part looks like a six-wheel, three-axle truck or a trailer, serving as a transport and charging station for the aircraft.

The second part is the actual two-seat eVTOL aircraft, which is released from the back of the truck.

The ground vehicle features an 800-volt extended-range electric (EREV) platform with more than 1,000 kilometers of total range.

The vehicle can charge the aircraft from 30% to 80% in 18 minutes, enough for 5 to 6 flights.

To control the aircraft, which can reach around 90 km/h (56 mph), a four-axis single-joystick system is used.

Both the ground vehicle and aircraft are priced at around 2 million yuan ($300,000).

The company already has around 7,000 pre-orders and hopes to deliver the vehicle at the end of 2026.

Xpeng isn’t the first company attempting to manufacture a flying car.

Alef Aeronautics has presented its Model A electric vehicle, which can also be pre-ordered by joining the “priority queue” for $ 1,500 or the “general queue” for $150.

While the company also received some interest, the question remained about how the vehicle could be used in real life, given that the person would also need to know how to operate the flying car.

Even though there has been progress in manufacturing flying cars, the question remains: how will we use them, since there’s no infrastructure or regulations in place?

As of now, the two-seat aircraft from Xpeng can be used for scenic flights, notes Fred Lambert, the editor-in-chief of Electrek, who visited the Aridge factory. This means that this aircraft, too, is focused on a rather niche user.

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