In what may be the first crash of its kind, two eVTOLs collided while preparing for an airshow in China on Tuesday. The XPeng AeroHT aircraft were rehearsing for an exhibition intended to show off urban air mobility technology before the Changchun Air Show in northeast China. One person was hurt and one of the aircraft was destroyed in a post-crash fire. “All personnel at the scene are safe, and local authorities have completed on-site emergency measures in an orderly manner,” the company said.
Xpeng is one of the largest electric vehicle manufacturers in the world and claims to have 3000 orders for the eVTOLs, which are made by its subsidiary AeroHT. The aircraft is a two-place module that fits in a six-wheel land vehicle. It has four pods with counterrotating rotors. The company calls the entire contraption a “flying car.”
YGBSM !
The Tesla truck is ugly enough … THIS thing makes it look lovely.
I am now all the more convinced that there may some sort of psychosis spreading among aviators (IF you can call this aviation?)
This AI thing is getting out of hand, too
AND … since this is a Tesla look alike …
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/man-and-two-children-burn-alive-inside-a-tesla-with-rescuers-unable-to-open-the-car-s-door/ar-AA1MPAol
If the crash doesn’t get ya … maybe the car will ??
Break the window on the car like every rescuer does when the doors are locked. The manual override on the Tesla is not difficult to use if you are inside.
In this case it was a private citizen, not rescue workers, that was first on the scene and unable to open the doors. As such, they likely didn’t have a crash ax or other tool for breaking open the window. Nor a convenient big rock nearby.
As for the manual override being “not difficult” to use from the inside – that’s a big ask of a presumably untrained driver engulfed in flames and smoke while listening to the screams of their children.
Fringe toy maybe, nothing mainstream about this.
Definitely a prime example for idiocy redefined.
Urban friendly? 😔
The only two perfectly safe collision-avoidant flying car urban air mobility eGizmos in the vicinity and…
BLAM ! CARUNCH !
If the tow rig needs double axles, how much does the flying cubicle weigh? And shouldn’t you be able to just fly it wherever you want to go?
No, you couldn’t just fly it ‘there’ – it doesn’t have nearly the same range as the van. It is more of an airborne ATV.
Wish I could afford one.
Put it on a standard trailer and tow it behind you car or truck. No difference in utility.
They should name this Musk-fugly transportation system, “AirHearse”.