XPeng AeroHT has inaugurated its Flying Car Ground Comprehensive Testing Center in Foshan, China. The centre, spanning 58,000sqm, will focus on research and validation of new flying car technologies, technical standards development and ground testing for the complete vehicle and system-level attributes.

Shuo Chen, head of the testing centre, explains: "This centre will conduct comprehensive ground tests, including strength, load, vibration, durability, environmental factors and materials. It will support product validation from virtual simulation to real-world testing."

Established in 2020, XPeng AeroHT has its R&D headquarters in Guangzhou and operates four major testing bases:

- Seagull Island flight base: focused on validation flights, durability tests and certification flights.

- R&D flight test centre: primarily dedicated to prototype flight testing.

- Powertrain experiment centre: specialising in testing electric motors, batteries and high-voltage electrical components.

- Comprehensive ground testing centre: the latest addition, designed to cover all aspects of research and development for the flying car flight process.

XPeng AeroHT president Zhao Deli says: "The completion of the testing centre in just four months will provide us with valuable time for the R&D of the next-generation flying car, which is currently in a crucial research and development phase. XPeng AeroHT's pioneering testing and flight system will continue to play a core role, assisting us in achieving mass production in the next two to three years."

XPeng AeroHT, an affiliate of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng, is the largest flying car company in Asia. It was established in 2013 and has accumulated 15,000 safe manned flights, winning multiple industrial design awards including the Red Dot Award, IF Award and IDEA Design Award along the way.

XPeng AeroHT raised over $500m for its Series A capital funding in October 2021.