Xpeng Aeroht, the flying car subsidiary of Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV), said two of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft collided during a rehearsal for the Changchun Air Show in Jilin province on Monday, leaving one person injured.
The company said the incident occurred during a dual-aircraft formation drill when “insufficient separation distance” led to a collision. One aircraft landed normally, while the other sustained structural damage and caught fire upon landing. Authorities completed on-site response operations, and the injured passenger was taken to hospital with no life-threatening injuries reported, according to local media.
eVTOL aircraft typically operate in both autonomous and manual modes, with risks ranging from route-planning flaws and equipment failures to human error, industry observers said. Xpeng Aeroht added that the specific cause of the collision remains under investigation.
Founded in 2013 and formally established in 2020, Xpeng Aeroht is majority-owned by Guangzhou-based Xpeng and its chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng. The unit is pursuing development of both eVTOL and modular flying cars, with plans to begin mass production of the latter by 2026 at a price of no more than 2 million yuan ($281,000), according to founder and president Zhao Deli.
Source: CNEVPOST