A Chinese Startup created a $140,000 Flying Car. Why…😕
A look into China’s Xpeng Aeroht flying car business
An interesting article recently came up on my social media feed. Xpeng, an electric vehicle motor company, has created a $140,000 flying car as a reason to avoid traffic jams.
Wait… WHAT!
My first thought I think similarly to most people is:
Don’t we already have helicopters?
So I dig a little deeper to learn more about the reasoning why they think this futuristic product will have demand in the future.
To my amazement, I think they are on to something!
The Current Issue with our Traffic System
As we all know, cities around the world are constantly troubled by the influx of huge volumes of vehicles. Big city areas such as California, Jakarta, New York, and London all have the same issue of having to wait hours due to heavy traffic.
Countries like Singapore have taken action by implementing a tax on owning vehicles called COE(Cost of Entitlement) which is roughly the same price as owning a car(essentially means you are paying double)which is used as a deterrent from owning a vehicle. This system did help a little in reducing the number of car buyers but did not solve the traffic problem.
The problem lies with how cities are now building skyscrapers which means more people are working there. However, the space needed to park their vehicle remains relatively unchanged and digger deeper into the ground for more parking space wouldn’t make sense since it would cost a lot more.
Space constraints are the №1 road traffic problem and having flying cars solves that.
A Car that can Drive and also a Drone that can Fly
With flying cars, aerial transportation will become a lot faster. People will be dropped off directly at their offices at high levels in the building. Thus, avoiding wait time from parking the car, walking, and taking the lift to the office.
Make roads less Busy
With fewer cars on the road, countries will then be able to expand their roads and build more useful things like stalls, cycling paths, and better walkways.
Flying Car that can Deliver to the Level you work or stay in
A driver typically drives 31 minutes every day based on Singapore Statista. That means that a worker will only use their car to go to and fro from their work and never have to use it much. The car can be better utilized.
Like Tesla, Xpeng plans to make their electric flying vehicle autonomous to fly people to their workplace as a premium taxi service to get people from one place to another faster.
Is it Ready?
From now, Xpeng is only doing presentation tests which they have done in China and Dubai. They plan to use this technology in delivery services first before pushing it out to the public.
Apart from that, the company also plans to improve the technology to support heavier loads and have better control of the vehicle.
What do you think?
Is this the future we want and is it something we need?
I can see the reasoning behind it, but Ithink the dream cannot be to fruition until the autonomous flying car is safe enough for consumers.