Image Credit: Captain Electro.
Minivans… They are about as exciting as watching paint dry in a humidity chamber. They are the sign of giving up on life, putting on sweatpants, and accepting your fate as a specialized Uber driver for tiny humans. I honestly thought the segment was doomed to eternal boredom, but the mad lads over at XPeng in China built a six-wheeled beastie that carries its own helicopter in the trunk.
It's true - I actually went to China not that long ago to see it, and this isn't some fever dream drawn on a napkin by a bored engineer after too much whiskey. This is the "Land Aircraft Carrier," and unlike Lexus, which is still doodling pretty pictures of six-wheeled concepts, XPeng is actually building the bloody thing. Deliveries start later this year. It's absolutely mad, and I love it.
Image Credit: Captain Electro.
Here is the gist of it: you buy a massive, six-wheeled van, and tucked inside the rear end like a kangaroo joey is a fully functional, two-seater eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft. It is being built by XPeng's new division, "Aridge." Yes, it does sound a bit like a fancy refrigerator, but I'm not going to split hairs over a name. The van itself is a proper unit. It stretches 18 feet long, stands over 6.6 feet tall, and sits on an 800-volt electric architecture.
But because electric range anxiety is real - especially when you are hauling a literal aircraft - XPeng's engineers slapped in a range-extender setup. That means there's a gas engine acting as a generator to keep the electrons flowing, giving this beast a total range of over 620 miles. That is plenty of distance to drive away from your bad decisions.
Image Credit: Captain Electro.
The cleverest bit? The van's trunk doubles as a charging station. You fly around in the helicopter part of this combo, scare the neighbors, land back in the van, and it juices up the drone while you drive home. The aircraft itself is made of carbon fiber and spins six rotors. It's all very "Blade Runner."
However, before you rush off to wire $287,000 (approximate conversion from 2 million yuan) to Guangzhou, there is a tiny, smoldering detail I need to mention. Last September, during a rehearsal flight, two of these prototypes decided to get a bit too friendly and collided in mid-air. One crashed and burst into flames. It wasn’t the machine at fault - it was the human in charge having a bit of a moment… Nobody was killed, thank the heavens, but a fireball isn't exactly the "standard feature" most buyers are looking for in a luxury purchase.
Image Credit: Captain Electro.
XPeng plans to churn out about 10,000 of these a year eventually, starting with 5,000 this year. And if you like colors, well, I hope you like boring ones. You can have it in Stellar Silver, Moonrock Gray, or Supernova White. Groundbreaking choices, truly.
Fiery hiccups aside - for less than the price of a high-end supercar, you get a six-wheeled electric tank and a personal flying machine. It looks ridiculous, it probably is dangerous, and... It's the most exciting thing to happen to minivans since sliding doors! Would I fly in it? Not without a stiff drink. But would I drive it? You bet I would.
For more photos and information go to one of our articles on msn:
My Other Car is a... $280,000 Flying Truck
Well, They Finally Did It. This Flying Car Factory Just Turned On
Enjoyed the article? Give us a 'LIKE' and FOLLOW us on MSN! We're tracking the electric future... even if it's still buffering.
