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GUANGZHOU, CHINA — At XPENG Motors’ 2025 AI Technology Day “Emergence” in Guangzhou, the company’s low-altitude mobility affiliate, XPENG Aridge (formerly known as Ariga), pulled back the curtain on what could be the future of intercity travel. The A868 Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) full-light-transition fixed-wing flying car represents more than just another concept vehicle—it’s a signal that the low-altitude economy CEO He Xiaopeng has long championed is entering a new phase of development.
CleanTechnica was invited to attend the event at XPENG’s headquarters, but visa complicat…
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GUANGZHOU, CHINA — At XPENG Motors’ 2025 AI Technology Day “Emergence” in Guangzhou, the company’s low-altitude mobility affiliate, XPENG Aridge (formerly known as Ariga), pulled back the curtain on what could be the future of intercity travel. The A868 Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) full-light-transition fixed-wing flying car represents more than just another concept vehicle—it’s a signal that the low-altitude economy CEO He Xiaopeng has long championed is entering a new phase of development.
CleanTechnica was invited to attend the event at XPENG’s headquarters, but visa complications for two of us and a medical situation for a third kept us from witnessing the unveiling firsthand. This article is written purely on transcripts and “Insidar” information. We didn’t rely on the press release because there was so much more available. We have used recordings and personal phone videos requiring the skills of a friend who helped me translate a lot of the recordings.
The announcement itself speaks volumes about where the company believes the industry is headed. He Xiaopeng framed the reveal within his vision of “Physical AI,” where the boundaries between digital intelligence and physical machinery continue to blur.
More tellingly, he acknowledged the shifting sentiment around flying cars, noting, “I’m especially happy that I have truly seen more and more people in China and the US engaging in the low-altitude economy recently.” That’s a notable shift from the skepticism that has historically greeted such ambitious mobility projects.
Beyond the flying car gimmick
The A868 Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) on display at the XPENG HQ in Guangzhou, China. Photo from XPENG.
He Xiaopeng was careful to distinguish the A868 from typical flying car concepts, describing it as “more like a low-altitude aircraft” given its emphasis on range and practicality. The prototype, which has already entered test flight phase, is explicitly designed for multi-person, intercity air mobility—a complement to Aridge’s (or is it XPENG’s) other flagship product, the Land Aircraft Carrier.
The specifications suggest XPENG Aridge is serious about making this work. The A868 employs an aviation-grade extended-range hybrid system capable of traveling over 500 kilometers at speeds reaching 360 kilometers per hour. To put that in perspective, He Xiaopeng argued it would be “more efficient than a car and more flexible than high-speed rail, allowing for travel at any time.” The six-person cabin isn’t designed for joyrides—it’s positioned squarely at business travelers and air mobility services that could realistically compete with conventional intercity transportation.
Perhaps the most practically significant feature is the A868’s fully vertical take-off and landing capability with light transition. VTOL has long been the holy grail for urban air mobility because it eliminates the need for traditional runways. According to He Xiaopeng, the A868 may “only require half a basketball court” for operations. If that proves true in real-world conditions, it dramatically expands where these vehicles could actually be deployed, turning rooftops, parking lots, and small helipads into viable launch sites.
Can they actually deliver?
The XPENG Flying Car and the Land Carrier (officially the Land Aircraft Carrier). Photo from XPENG.
XPENG Ariga is positioning the A868 as “entering the eve of mass production,” but the company appears acutely aware that safety concerns could derail even the most promising flying car project. The A868 employs a six-axis, six-propeller, two-power-channel configuration designed to maintain flight even if a propeller or an entire power channel fails. That’s table stakes for any serious VTOL aircraft, but XPENG is going further with what it calls the Executive First Flight Plan—a commitment requiring company leaders, including He Xiaopeng himself, to personally log over 5,000 kilometers of flight time before customer deliveries begin.
The production timeline is ambitious but not outlandish. XPENG Ariga’s new intelligent manufacturing base in Guangzhou recently rolled out its first body and is designed for assembly line production with an initial annual capacity of 5,000 units, scalable to 10,000 units at full production. The company is targeting the second half of 2026 for first deliveries. He Xiaopeng’s eagerness was palpable in his comments: “It will be a brand-new experience. I am already very impatient to explore flying myself.”
The company has already accumulated over 7,000 pre-orders for its flying car products, suggesting there’s genuine market interest—though how many of those will convert to actual sales remains to be seen. He Xiaopeng closed with characteristic idealism, reflecting on the company’s decade-plus journey: “Only when the micro-light truly works hard to practice will the final emergence reach for the stars. I think people are truly great because of their dreams.”
**How about safety? **
On the regulatory and training front, Ariga plans to introduce an exclusive flying car pilot license with dedicated one-on-one training. He Xiaopeng’s pitch is characteristically optimistic: “If you can drive a car, you can fly it.” Whether aviation regulators in China and beyond will accept such simplified certification remains an open question, but the company is clearly betting that the regulatory framework will evolve alongside the technology.
Whether those dreams translate into a viable business will depend on regulatory approval, production execution, and whether customers actually embrace flying cars as a practical transportation option. But after years of flying car concepts that never took off—literally or figuratively—XPENG Ariga is at least putting real hardware and real timelines on the table.
What do you think? Is the low-altitude economy finally ready for liftoff, or is this another case of over-promising on flying cars? Share your perspective in the comments below.
*Thank you to my friend Aimee de los Santos who helped me translate some of the transcripts and videos. *
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