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Chinese carmaker Geely in race to take EVs to the skies as subsidiary Aerofugia completes trial run of five-seater flying car
- Aerofugia said its electric vertical take-off and landing prototype, the AE200, is the largest such vehicle to complete a maiden flight in China
- The global ‘urban air traffic’ sector is projected to become a US$1.5 trillion industry by 2040, with China making up about 29 per cent of the market
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Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group said its subsidiary Aerofugia successfully completed a test flight of its prototype flying car on Monday, moving the company closer to its goal of delivering electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles to market.
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The test flight of the AE200-series eVTOL vehicle, with a tilt-motor configuration, was made within two months of Aerofugia obtaining the country’s first licence for such a manned flying car. It seats one pilot and four passengers, and was designed for “safe and comfortable” intercity and interurban area travel, according to Aerofugia.
“Geely’s successful test flight shows that it has enough scientific and technical capability to realise [the commercial viability of] its flying car project,” said Wang Ke, a senior consultant focused on the car industry, at Beijing-based consultancy Analysys. “The domestic flying car industry, however, is still at the early stage of development.”
Aerofugia’s test flight was completed on the same day that electric carmaker Xpeng Motors announced that its eVTOL unit, AeroHT, received a special permit to continue manned flights in its two-seater X2 electric flying car. That helps accelerate AeroHT’s efforts to produce its sixth-generation eVTOL vehicles for the domestic market, according to Xpeng.
Aerofugia’s successful eVTOL test flight reflects how Geely founder and chairman Li Shufu’s deal-making track record is paying off for the company, as it rides the next wave of innovation in the world’s largest electric vehicle market.
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Geely, which acquired Volvo Cars in 2010, a controlling stake in Lotus Cars in 2017 and a minority interest in Mercedes-Benz Group in 2018, showed its ambition to take to the skies when it agreed to buy US flying car start-up Terrafugia in June 2017. Founded in Boston by a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates in 2006, the firm designed the world’s first practical flying car, called the Transition.
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