Interface News Reporter | Zhang Xilong
The low altitude economy continues to be hot, and in order to keep up with market demand, aircraft have also begun to use modern assembly lines for production.
On October 27th, Xiaopeng Huitian Flying Automotive Intelligent Manufacturing Base officially started construction in Guangzhou. Officially, this is the world's first flying car factory to mass produce using modern assembly lines.
Zhao Deli, founder of Xiaopeng Huitian, pointed out at the construction site that after completion, it will be the world's largest flying car factory. The base will be used to produce the flying body part of the split type flying car "land carrier", with a planned annual production capacity of 10000 units.
The base is located in Guangzhou Development Zone, about 1 kilometer away from Xiaopeng Automotive Intelligent Manufacturing Base; The overall project is undertaken by China Construction Fourth Engineering Bureau, with the first phase covering an area of approximately 180000 square meters.
Zhao Deli mentioned that the base is expected to be completed in early August next year, and the first car will be produced from here; It is expected to obtain TC certification by the end of October next year and achieve mass production delivery in the first quarter of 2026. "We will hold a pre-sale press conference in December this year, and our goal is to pre-sale tens of thousands of units
Low altitude economy is a key emerging industry in Guangzhou Development Zone and Huangpu District. Shao Jingbo, Deputy Director of the Guangzhou Development Zone Management Committee, mentioned that more than 50 low altitude economic enterprises have gathered in the entire district, and an 800 meter testing runway and a 5.2 square kilometer low altitude economic industrial park have been planned about a 15 minute drive from the Xiaopeng Huitian production base; Four large take-off and landing hubs, nine medium-sized take-off and landing sites, and several take-off and landing points have been planned throughout the region.
Build aircraft by producing cars
One breakthrough is that Xiaopeng Huitian Guangzhou Base has disrupted the production process and procedures of traditional aircraft, drawing on the experience of large-scale automobile manufacturing to achieve mass production.
Automobile manufacturing is divided into four major processes: stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly, while aircraft manufacturing involves processes such as laying, molding, high pressure, hot pressing, riveting, spraying, and final assembly, with significant differences between the two.
Qiu Mingquan, Vice President of Xiaopeng Huitian, mentioned, "We have referenced many production methods of automobiles and innovated, such as building a production line for auxiliary material connection and coating assembly based on the four major processes of automobiles. In the production of auxiliary materials, such as carbon fiber materials, we have gradually connected the entire chain through hot pressing cans and joint development with supplier partners
It is reported that Xiaopeng Huitian factory has laid out four major production workshops and ancillary facilities for composite materials, connection, painting, and final assembly.
Another innovation lies in assembly line production. In the traditional aviation industry, due to production capacity and scale constraints, airplanes are not produced using automotive assembly lines, but instead adopt a "fixed-point" model - airplanes are placed at fixed workstations and all components are transported here for assembly. This mode requires many processes and a lot of manpower.
And Xiaopeng Huitian Base has borrowed the production method of automobiles, which is modern assembly lines. Each component has its own assembly line and is finally sent to the assembly workshop for mass production. For example, Xiaopeng Motors may take one or two minutes to produce a car, "Qiu Mingquan mentioned.
Zhao Deli said that many airlines have low levels of automation in their production factories. If Xiaopeng Huitian continues to use this traditional production method, it is estimated that it will take 3000 people to achieve a production capacity of 10000 units. "To achieve mass production scale, the process needs to be at least semi automated
What is the concept of 10000 units in the aviation industry? With all the current general aviation aircraft in the world, including helicopters, fixed wings, etc., the global production may only be two to three thousand units. Boeing, the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, has an annual production of only about 500 units. Qiu Mingquan believes that as the world's first factory to mass produce aircraft using assembly lines, Xiaopeng Huitian provides an example of large-scale industrial production for this industry.
In addition, the base also adopts the characteristics of modern automotive industry production, such as adopting an intensive design, combining factory buildings, and centralized warehousing to minimize the footprint and improve logistics and production efficiency.
Drawing inspiration from the production of automotive parts, Xiaopeng Huitian has also established a full process, full cycle, and traceable production management model. From production and mass production to product delivery and after-sales maintenance, each part is assigned an "ID card" to ensure its traceability.
This factory has several significant advantages, the first being controllable costs, the second being improved efficiency, and the third being completely controllable production quality to ensure product consistency, "said Qiu Mingquan.
Promote the landing of flight licenses
Xiaopeng Huitian's "land carrier" is mainly aimed at C-end consumers, just as driving a car requires a driver's license, operating a flying car also requires a corresponding license.
According to the regulations of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, flight licenses are currently divided into six categories: student license, sports license, private license, commercial license, multi person crew license, and airline transport license.
These licenses have high acquisition thresholds and costs. Taking sports photos as an example, it is necessary to pass theoretical exams and achieve at least 30 hours of flight time, with a cost of tens of thousands of yuan; The threshold for obtaining a private license has been raised to a higher level, requiring passing a theoretical exam, flying for 40 hours, and generally costing over 150000 yuan.
If ordinary people want to fly a plane, they usually choose sports photos and private photos. Compared to motor vehicles, they are equivalent to a C-license for a car license or a lower level motorcycle license.
However, as a new mode of transportation, flying cars do not yet have a corresponding flight license.
Qiu Mingquan told Jiemian News that Xiaopeng Huitian is working with the Civil Aviation Administration to promote the landing of the license, and the difficulty of obtaining it will be lower than that of obtaining licenses for helicopters or fixed wing aircraft.
He mentioned that compared to commercially operated aircraft, the license for light sport aircraft would be simpler. The former includes commercial aircraft, passenger helicopters, helicopters operated by scenic spots, etc., corresponding to commercial or private licenses. The cost of the latter has been reduced to 70000 or even lower, and the learning time may be 30 hours, awarded by the General Administration of Sport of China.
The single pole operation of land aircraft carriers has changed the operating logic of all aircraft in the past. Even if you don't know how to operate it, it can fly automatically, and users can get started in 5 minutes, so they don't need too much learning time. "Qiu Mingquan pointed out that he will communicate with the Civil Aviation Administration of China based on the product's simpler, more intelligent, and automated characteristics to explore simpler and more efficient license training modes.
The land carrier will start pre-sales for the C-end by the end of this year, and according to the plan, its lifecycle will be around 4 to 5 years. Qiu Mingquan revealed that the target for the price is within 2 million yuan. Currently, the company has received many booking applications from B-end users, and some enterprise users have already paid a deposit. Now the orders are close to 2000
On the one hand, we will continuously iterate the power system and improve the level of intelligence. More importantly, we will develop other models and derivatives based on the land carrier, such as low altitude tourist aircraft without land-based vehicles, as well as high-speed and long-range products, with a speed of over 300 kilometers per hour and a range of up to 500 kilometers, "said Qiu Mingquan.