XPeng AeroHT’s ‘Land Aircraft Carrier’ hits latest certification milestone en route to mass production

AeroHT, the eVTOL and “flying car” business arm of XPeng, announced it is one step closer to bringing its “Land Aircraft Carrier” to customers in China. The powers that be accepted the unique NEV/eVTOL combo vehicle’s production certificate application, moving AeroHT toward its next step before mass production.

AeroHT is easily one of the most exciting electric mobility developers outside of the world of cars. That said, the aerial business arm of XPeng has already developed and demonstrated a real-life flying car called the X3.

While a Jetsons-like future remains far off, XPeng has been working toward scaling up the production of a second “flying car” called the Land Aircraft Carrier. This massive electrified vehicle houses a single-passenger electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft that can be deployed from the rear.

The Land Aircraft Carrier was initially scheduled to enter scaled production in 2025 ahead of customer deliveries in China, but AeroHT pushed those deliveries into 2026 as it continued work on a new facility to mass-produce the new model.

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In March 2024, the EV/eVTOL combo vessel achieved airworthiness certification by the Civil Aviation Administration of Central and Southern China (CAAC). Since then, AeroHT has been performing crewed test flights and putting the production infrastructure in place to deliver the Land Aircraft Carrier to the masses.

With construction of the Land Aircraft Carrier’s new production facility nearly three-quarters complete, XPeng AeroHT announced its next certification milestone as progress toward a future of sustainable aerial travel continues.

Land Aircraft Carrier’s production certificate accepted

This week, AeroHT confirmed that the CAAC has accepted its production certificate application for the eVTOL component of its Land Aircraft Carrier. The latest milestone enables the Chinese aviation authorities to review XPeng AeroHT’s mass production practices next.

The production certification joins the eVTOL’s Type certification on AeroHT’s award wall, moving the latter certificate into the compliance confirmation phase—a step vital in the Chinese tech arm’s achieving its target of mass production and deliveries in China in 2026.

Per AeroHT, the Production Certificate indicates that it has established genuine production-quality systems for aerial mobility products that ensure that those vessels are manufactured in a safe and usable condition. The company shared that its production facility, which will assemble the Land Aircraft Carriers, is now 70% complete, with the construction of the main building for final assembly, paint shop, compounding shop, and joining shop all finished.

The company expects the new facility to be 100% complete in Q4 of this year. CnEVPost pointed out that although AeroHT’s Land Aircraft Carrier has achieved Type and Production Certification, it will still need an Airworthiness Certificate and Air Operator Certificate from the CAAC before starting any commercial flight operations in which it charges its passengers.

Xpeng Aeroht said it will continue to cooperate with the CAAC through the Type Certificate and Production Certificate validation process as it inches closer to mass production and customer deliveries. Last we heard, the Land Aircraft Carrier is expected to start at around $280,000.