Two Xpeng flying cars collide during Changchun air show rehearsal in China
One vehicle caught fire on landing; company said people at the scene were safe while media reported one injury
Two electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles produced by Xpeng's AeroHT unit crashed into each other during a rehearsal for the Changchun Air Show in north-east China, the company said. One of the vehicles sustained fuselage damage and caught fire upon landing, Xpeng AeroHT said in a statement to Reuters.
Xpeng said people at the scene were safe. CNN, citing an anonymous company employee, reported that one person was injured. Footage circulating on the Chinese social media platform Weibo appeared to show wreckage and a vehicle on fire being attended to by fire engines. The rehearsals took place on Tuesday ahead of the air show, which is scheduled to open later this week.
Xpeng has been marketing the AeroHT vehicles as electric flying cars that can take off and land vertically. The company has said it expects to price the vehicles at roughly $300,000 each and in January reported about 3,000 orders for the model. AeroHT is a subsidiary of Xpeng, one of China's largest electric vehicle manufacturers, which in recent years has also expanded into European markets.
Video shared online showed the two aircraft in flight before the collision and later images of emergency responders at the scene. Xpeng told CNN that one vehicle caught fire during landing; it provided limited details about the circumstances that led to the collision. BBC News contacted Xpeng for additional comment.
The incident highlights technical and regulatory challenges facing eVTOL technology even as manufacturers and some governments move to encourage low-altitude urban air mobility. Observers say infrastructure, airspace regulation, safety certification and public acceptance remain significant hurdles before this class of aircraft can be used widely for transport.
China has publicly promoted a "low-altitude economy" as part of broader efforts to develop new transport technologies, and some analysts have compared its ambitions in urban air mobility to the country's earlier push to scale electric vehicles. The sector has also attracted cross-border investment: last year, a European flying car firm was acquired by a Chinese company, illustrating growing global interest in the market.
Organizers of the Changchun Air Show and local aviation authorities had not released detailed statements about the collision by the time of reporting. Xpeng and AeroHT have previously conducted demonstrations and test flights as part of their effort to commercialize the eVTOL platform, but the company did not immediately announce any change to future demonstration schedules.
News organizations contacted Xpeng for additional information on the cause of the collision, the condition of the injured individual reported by CNN, and any planned investigations. Authorities and the manufacturer have not yet released a full account of the incident or a timeline for any inquiry into the crash.