Released in the middle of the last month, XPeng’s Voyager X2 is currently being tested in extreme environments. These include high altitudes over cities like Xining and Yushu, Northwest China’s Qinghai province.
The Voyager X2 is the fifth generation flying car from XPeng Huitian, the electric flying car company owned by XPeng Motors. The X2 was preceded by a fourth-generation flying vehicle, XPeng Voyager X1, unveiled earlier this year. While the X1 remains in development, XPeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng announced the X2 flying vehicle along with a video showing the vehicle in action.
During the exhibition at the Chengdu Motor Show in China in August, Xpeng has shared new details about the progress of the Voyager X2. It revealed that the flying car underwent several internal flight tests at flight bases in Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Jiangmen in early June this year.
The flying car shares a lot of the same design DNA as the company’s P7 EV sedan and features a closed cockpit, essential for high-altitude flights. The Voyager X2 is an octocopter- each arm has a pair of motors and propellers that provide extra thrust and adds some redundancy, where the aircraft could maintain flight if one motor fails. Its full fuselage is made of carbon fiber construction, weighs 395 kg, including the battery.
The electric flying car is capable of carrying two people on board with a maximum load of 200 kg, which is less than what we reported last time. The X2 has two driving modes, manual and autopilot. An autopilot function can operate an automatic flight according to a predetermined altitude, speed, and flight time along a planned route.
The air taxi can stay in the air for up to 35 minutes and move at a maximum speed of 130 km/h (80 mph). It is designed to fly at altitudes of under 1,000 meters.
