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

Geely

Lilian Zhang

Published: 6:30pm, 1 Feb 2023

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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.

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.

Li Shufu, the billionaire founder and chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Photo: Simon Song

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.

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.

Terrafugia’s flying car costs US$279,000 and can travel a distance of 800 kilometres. Li, who once said that a car is merely “two sofas on top of four wheels in an iron shell”, said at the time that Geely’s vision is to make flying cars a reality.

After Geely made an investment in German air taxi developer Volocopter in September 2019, it backed the merger of Terrafugia with Chinese drone maker AOSSCI to form Aerofugia in 2020. This firm is based in Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan province.

German air taxi firm Volocopter eyes China expansion with Geely venture

The AE200 X01 prototype is the largest eVTOL vehicle to complete a maiden flight in China and has met all technical conditions for flying, according to Aerofugia. “It marks a milestone in the development of the aircraft and lays the foundation for carrying out a subsequent series of test flights,” a company representative said.

Aerofugia, which formed a joint venture with Volocopter in 2021, will continue test flights of the prototype to accumulate safety data before it applies for a formal licence to commercially release the eVTOL vehicle. The Aerofugia representative said that type of certification is likely to be obtained “within three to five years”.

At present, the AE200’s government permit stipulates that its purpose is for sightseeing, emergency healthcare and logistics – making it an alternative to a car for a person’s daily commute.

The global “urban air traffic” sector is projected to become a US$1.5 trillion industry by 2040, with China accounting for about 29 per cent of the total market, according to a Morgan Stanley report published in 2021.

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The Chinese government has been gradually relaxing its restrictions on low-altitude airspace – the airspace below 1,000 metres – for civilian use to promote the rapid development of its civil aviation industry. In March last year, the Ministry of Transport released a development plan that listed flying cars among the major tasks from 2021 to 2035.

The current eVTOL vehicles being tested are poised to address ground traffic congestion in urban areas and reduce carbon emissions. Outside China, Toyota Motor Corp in Japan has also been developing and testing flying car prototypes.

“At present, the technical safety and stability have yet to be verified,” Wang of Analysys said. “Given that flying cars are still new in China, it will take time for people to accept it.”