While the future of air travel will be more sustainable and convenient, we are still not quite there yet in the development phase. During a recent rehearsal at an air show in China, AeroHT, the eVTOL development arm of XPeng, saw two of its aerial vessels collide in the air, resulting in a crash and injuries.
If you follow electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) news, chances are you’ve heard of XPeng AeroHT. The sustainable aerial business spun out of XPeng Inc., and its founder, He Xiaopeng, has developed (and demonstrated) some of the coolest “flying car” technology we’re seeing today.
Although founded in 2013, AeroHT started gaining news coverage in 2021 with the debut of the X2, the company’s fifth-generation “flying car.” Although it doesn’t have wheels, AeroHT referred to the X2 as a “flying car,” because it shared much of the same design DNA as the XPeng P7 EV sedan.
A year later, XPeng AeroHT shared test footage of a bona fide flying car that can pull up, deploy propellers, and take off vertically. Since then, the aerial mobility division has unveiled a sharper version of the EV/eVTOL combo and a rugged 6×6 all-wheel drive vehicle called the Land Aircraft Carrier that houses a separate eVTOL in its rear.
During an air show in China, XPeng AeroHT was preparing for another live demonstration of its eVTOL technology to the public. However, reports state that two of XPeng’s aircraft collided, resulting in a crash. Here’s what we know.
XPeng AeroHT eVTOL crash results in injuries
As reported by CnEVPost, the eVTOL crash took place the afternoon of September 16 at the Changchun Airshow in Jilin, northeast China, where XPeng AeroHT was practicing for a live flight demonstration.
Reports on the scene at the time state that two XPeng eVTOLs collided in the air, resulting in a crash that left at least one person injured and hospitalized, although there were luckily no life-threatening injuries.
XPeng AeroHT responded to CnEVPost’s report, explaining that the crash occurred after the Changchun Air Show’s pre-show rehearsal. Two eVTOLs were executing a dual-aircraft formation drill before colliding due to “insufficient separation distance.”
XPeng shared that one aircraft was able to land safely, but the other sustained structural damage and caught fire following a crash to the ground. All personnel at the scene were safe, and authorities were able to complete on-site response operations.
XPeng AeroHT added that the specific cause of the crash remains under further internal investigation.
The Land Air Carrier is currently available for order in China and is expected to enter mass production in 2026.
Featured image credit: Screenshots from a video circulating on Weibo
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