XPeng AeroHT Tilt-Wing (technology demonstrator)
Tilt-Wing (technology demonstrator)
XPeng AeroHT
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
www.aeroht.com
With funding from XPeng Motors, XPeng AeroHT was founded in 2020 as one of its subdivisions and is located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. XPeng AeroHT is in the business of designing and manufacturing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) passenger aircraft for advanced air mobility (AAM). The company was originally founded as Heitech in 2013 by Zhao Deli in Dongguan, Guangdong, China and was later purchased by XPeng Motors. He Xiaopeng is the Chairman and CEO of XPeng Motors and the Chairman of XPeng AeroHT. Zhao Deli is currently the president of XPeng AeroHT, Wang Tan is the co-founder, vice president and chief designer of XPeng AeroHT and Zheng Congwei is the vice president of XPeng AeroHT. (Image credit: XPeng AeroHT)
XPeng Motors was founded in 2014 by He Xiaopeng, Henry Xia and He Tao and is a leading Chinese all-electric vehicle and technology company that designs, develops and manufactures intelligent automobiles that are seamlessly integrated with the Internet and utilize the latest advances in artificial intelligence. The company's headquarters are located in Guangzhou, China.
The company's manufacturing philosophy centers around quality, continuous improvement, flexibility and high operating efficiency. XPeng's goal is to make smart electric vehicles with technology and data, and shape the consumer mobility experience of the future. XPeng went public in the U.S. in August 2020 and has completed a dual-primary listing in Hong Kong.
When Zhao Deli was very young, he always liked electronics, science and had the dream to fly. In 2008, Zhao by chance, saw a group of people flying remote-controlled model aircraft which sparked his interest in flying again. He began to work on, study and learn to make model aircraft, including drones and helicopters and learned how to make them fly.
After making electric drones for several years (including a hybrid-electric drone), Deli started his own company in 2010 to sell drones. The company created five different drone models to manufacture and sell. Then around 2016, Deli read about a hover surfboard from Canada, this information was the catalyst to for him to begin building an eVTOL hoverbike for one passenger.
He started out funding himself with his own money, by selling his home and borrowing money from friends. He then attracted investors to keep his research going. After his drone company went bankrupt, Deli attracted an investment of $2.8 million (USD), all from Chinese venture capitalists and XPeng AeroHT was formed. Before XPeng AeroHT was formed, Deli's two previous and now defunct eVTOL companies were named GroundAero and Heitech Aeronautics & Astronautics.
Tilt-Wing eVTOL technology demonstrator aircraft
XPeng AeroHT has developed an uncrewed Tilt-Wing eVTOL technology demonstrator aircraft. The electric tilt-wing aircraft was possibly made in secret because as far as we know, there were never any articles about the company building a tilt-wing demonstrator and the company revealed to the world, without any prior notice, of their successful validation test of the aircraft using a video. The validation test took place on December 20, 2023 in an outdoor test flight setting to verify the aircraft could hover in controlled conditions and other tests took place as well. The demonstrator aircraft was untethered.
The aircraft is large enough to hold at least one person but the aircraft was not designed with a cockpit and the aircraft is flown by remote control. The aircraft has eight propellers on tandem tilt-wings and the rear wing has a vertical winglet. Each wing has four propellers mounted on the front of the wings. Each propeller has three blades and each blade has variable pitch control. Each wing has four flaps and the winglets each have a vertical flaps. The fuselage is made from carbon fiber composite for a high strength and low weight ratio. The aircraft has fixed skid landing gear.
The company reported they obtained a license to fly the aircraft and was issued by the Central and South China Regional Administration of Civil Aviation of China on December 20, 2023.
Specifications:
- Aircraft type: eVTOL tilt-wing technology aircraft
- Piloting: Remote control
- Capacity: No passengers (The aircraft is large enough to carry at least one person)
- Cruise speed: Unknown
- Propellers: 8 propellers (3 blades per propeller and each blade has variable pitch control)
- Electric motors: 8 electric motors
- Power source: Battery packs
- Fuselage: Aircraft aluminum open framed fuselage
- Windows: No windows
- Wings: Tandem wings, the rear wing has winglets
- Landing gear: Fixed skid landing gear
- Safety features: Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), provides safety through redundancy for its passengers and/or cargo. DEP means having multiple propellers (or ducted fans) and motors on the aircraft so if one or more propellers (ducted fans) or motors fail, the other working propellers (or ducted fans) and motors can safely land the aircraft. There are also redundancies of critical components in the sub-systems of the aircraft. The aircraft could fly and land like a conventional aircraft try to land on its skids in an emergency.
Related Aircraft:
- GroundAero Sport Utility Aircraft (defunct)
- XPeng AeroHT Air F1 (defunct)
- XPeng AeroHT Cruiser (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT eVTOL Flying Car (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT Flying Car (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT Magic Cloud (defunct)
- XPeng AeroHT Modular Flying Car (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT Skimmer (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT Snow Flyer (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT Sport (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT T1 (production model)
- XPeng AeroHT Voyager X1 (production model)
- XPeng AeroHT Voyager X2 (production model)
- XPeng AeroHT X3 (concept design)
- XPeng AeroHT X3 (technology demonstrator)
Company Insights:
Resources:
- XPeng AeroHT website
- XPeng AeroHT Facebook
- XPeng AeroHT Twitter
- XPeng AeroHT YouTube
- XPeng AeroHT TikTok
- XPeng AeroHT Pinterest
- XPeng AeroHT Instagram
- XPeng AeroHT LinkedIn
- XPeng Motors website
- XPeng Motors Facebook
- XPeng Motors Twitter
- XPeng Motors YouTube Channel
- XPeng Motors LinkedIn
- Video: XPENG AEROHT Tilt-Wing Validation Aircraft Flight Test, Xpeng AeroHT, Dec. 25, 2023
- Article: China’s XPeng AeroHT Flies Tiltwing eVTOL, Aviation Week, Dec. 26, 2023
- Article: China’s XPeng AeroHT Flies Tiltwing eVTOL, moomoo, Dec. 27, 2023
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