According to a report by CCTV News, China will foster the low-altitude economy into an emerging pillar industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, also known as flying cars, are the core carrier for the low-altitude economy to expand from industrial drone operations to passenger transportation, with the potential to fuel a trillion- to ten-trillion-yuan industrial cluster. The industry has now entered a phase of commercial exploration.
A newly launched intelligent manufacturing base for flying cars in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, has a designed annual production capacity of 100 units. Its main product is a multi-rotor flying car with a maximum range of 30 kilometers and seating for two passengers, which has secured more than 2,000 intent orders. The EHang EH216-S, China’s first airworthiness-certified passenger-carrying autonomous aerial vehicle, has launched commercial trial operations in Guangzhou and Hefei, focusing mainly on aerial sightseeing services. In Chengdu, Sichuan Province, a six-seat all-electric flying car developed by Aerofugia is undergoing airworthiness certification. Adopting a tilt-rotor configuration and boasting a top speed of 230 km/h, it has accumulated nearly 2,000 intent orders and several hundred confirmed orders across China.
Experts noted that flying cars are currently deployed in high-value scenarios such as emergency medical transport and premium point-to-point travel. App-based “air taxi” services are expected to become a reality within the next decade. Solid-state batteries, whose energy density is 1.5 times that of conventional ternary lithium batteries, have been adopted for flying cars. An aircraft powered by solid-state batteries has successfully crossed the Qiongzhou Strait.
