XPeng Unveils New Flying Car And Terrifying Robotic Pony

XPeng has used their 1024 Tech Day to unveil an assortment of new concepts including a flying car and a robotic pony that will haunt your dreams.

Starting with the flying car, it was developed by XPeng’x Urban Air Mobility affiliate known as HT Aero.

The company didn’t go into many specifics, but said the model was developed in-house and features multiple safety redundancies as well as a lightweight design and a foldable rotor mechanism. When the car is parked, two gullwing doors open and allow the rotors to swing into place. The blades then extend, allowing the car to takeoff and land vertically.

Also Read: Flying Cars Are Coming, But They’ll Be Pricier Than Ferrari’s SF90 Stradale

In terms of styling, the model looks like a futuristic supercar as it features an aerodynamic design and partially covered rear wheels. The flying car also sports a high-tech interior with a transparent infotainment system and a digital display integrated into the steering wheel. We can also see a central divider and unique controls for flying.

While the model looks pretty farfetched, XPeng says a roll-out is planned for 2024. They also noted it will be “road-capable” and this suggests it will be fully street-legal.

In other news, XPeng used the event to announced plans to launch the XPilot 3.5 driver assistance system early next year. It features the “industry’s first mass-produced quadruple perception fusion solution, with dual-camera-vision coverage, complemented by LiDAR and millimeter-wave radar sensors.” They will enable vehicles to see in 3D as well as recognize, classify and note the position of objects around them.

Roughly a year later, in the first half of 2023, XPeng will roll out XPilot 4.0. It’s billed as a “full-scenario” driver assistance system that allows for autonomous point-to-point driving. It’s slated to use an 8 million pixel front-view binocular camera, 2.9 million pixel side-view cameras and two Orin-X autonomous driving SoCs.

The Tesla competitor also announced plans for China’s first “800V high-voltage mass-production SiC platform, with new-generation X-Power superchargers able to charge for a range of up to 200 km (124 miles) in just 5 minutes.” Speaking of the latter, the company will introduce 480 kW superchargers to all for quick charging.

Last but not least, XPeng introduced a robotic pony prototype that looks like a rocking horse from hell. It features face, body and voiceprint sensing to recognize multiple users and presumably steal the souls of small children. The pony can also walk thanks to 3D route planning and high-tech limbs, and children can apparently ride on it.