Incoming Chinese carmaker has confirmed it's now taking orders in Australia for its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) 'flying car' – but there are some pretty significant caveats. or signup to continue reading Unveiled at the Sydney International EV AutoShow on the weekend, following similar appearances at the Tokyo motor show in October and in China prior to that, the is now available to order in Australia. It's priced "around $200k" according to Jason Clarke, the CEO of TrueEV, Xpeng's Australian importer and distributor.
The fully electric, circa-360kg (unladen) eVTOL is claimed to offer a range of 75km (or approximately 30 minutes of flying time) and features eight individual rotors and motors, a top speed of 130km/h and an enclosed two-seater cockpit. It's also fitted as standard with a ballistic-grade parachute should things go awry. "Yes, you can buy it in Australia.
We can take orders," Mr Clarke told , adding,"$200,000 is the guidance." . While Mr Clarke insists the X2 isn't a gimmick, actually purchasing and operating the new flying vehicle isn't exactly straightforward.
He admitted the X2 was likely to be bungled in red tape for some time before it could take to the skies. "People think it's a gimmick because it's a flying car, and there are references to the Jetsons. I get a bit uneasy about that because this is real, and the one you're looking at has done flights.
They've taken the ballistics parachute out of it and reduced the weight," Mr Clarke s.
