GAC increases investment in the trillion-yuan low-altitude track

Author | Wang Xiaojun

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

The booming trillion-dollar low-altitude sector has seen new players entering the automotive field.

On December 18th, GAC Group held the GAC Flying Car brand and new product launch conference, officially unveiling its new flying car brand—GOVY. At the same time, the first composite wing flying car, GOVY AirJet, made its debut.

This signifies that GAC's layout in the low-altitude travel sector has entered a concrete product phase.

By entering the flying car field, GAC aims to build an end-to-end low-altitude three-dimensional travel system based on flying car products and multi-dimensional transportation scenarios, achieving seamless coverage of ground transportation and low-altitude travel.

In the Robo-AirTaxi system, GAC will leverage the advantages of smart connected new energy vehicle ground travel services to meet users' diverse travel needs from ground to low altitude.

For short-distance travel needs within 20 km, the multi-rotor flying car GOVY AirCar will be used; for medium to short-distance travel needs within 200 km, the composite wing flying car GOVY AirJet can enhance rapid movement between transportation hubs and cities, improving intercity transportation efficiency.

Combining geographical advantages, GAC's Robo-AirTaxi will also expand the "40-minute living circle of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," achieving fast, safe, and economical intercity connectivity.

The current product, GOVY AirJet, features an 8-axis 8-rotor and dual duct composite wing configuration, along with a power and control system designed with multiple redundancies to ensure that the flying car remains stable and controllable even if a core component fails. Lightweight design is also crucial for flying cars; over 90% of the GOVY AirJet's structure uses carbon fiber composite materials.

In terms of the core three-electric system, the GOVY AirJet is equipped with GAC's self-developed high-performance electric drive system, with motor torque density increased by 200% compared to electric vehicles, and a maximum flight speed of up to 250 km/h. Additionally, the GOVY AirJet utilizes a carbon fiber high-safety battery pack and high-density power system with an integration efficiency of up to 82%.

In terms of range, the GOVY AirJet achieves a range of over 200 km and supports 30-minute rapid recharging, catering to the travel needs between cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In the future, with the integration of GAC's all-solid-state batteries, the range is expected to increase to 400 km.

At the launch conference, it was also revealed that GAC plans to initiate airworthiness certification for flying car products in 2025, while laying out production lines and starting reservations, gradually advancing the commercialization of low-altitude travel.

With the addition of flying cars, GAC will become a technology group encompassing cutting-edge fields such as new energy, smart connectivity, autonomous driving, humanoid robots, and flying cars.

In the trillion-dollar low-altitude sector, players in the automotive industry chain are no longer new faces.

Recently, XPeng Motors' ecological enterprise XPeng Huitian has been making waves, and its so-called "land aircraft carrier" split-type flying car has already secured 3,000 orders Changan Automobile has recently announced its flying car-related projects, planning to simultaneously develop two forms of products and industries in the flying car field: low-altitude aircraft and flying cars, with plans to launch flying car products by 2026.

In August, Wang Ning also invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Shanghai Fengfei Aviation Technology Co., Ltd., which is also a representative enterprise of eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft).

According to data released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, by 2025, the market size of the low-altitude economy will reach 1.5 trillion yuan. Former Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Li Jian, stated that in the future, the scale of the low-altitude economy will be approximately 3.2 times that of the high-altitude economy. The economic scale of China's existing civil aviation high-altitude transportation network is 17 trillion yuan, which estimates that the scale of the low-altitude economy can reach 50 trillion yuan.

In the current highly competitive automotive industry, it is understandable that car companies are increasing their investment in new businesses to find a second curve beyond automobiles.

With the participation of major players like GAC and ongoing policies, flying cars are expected to change future transportation methods and will become a new economic form, with growth potential that the market looks forward to.

The following is a transcript of the conversation with Wu Jian, Director of GAC Research Institute, Dr. Su Qingpeng, and Dr. Wang Linlin (edited):

Q: What stage is the entire industry in regarding the current development of the low-altitude economy? What are the main problems and obstacles it faces? Additionally, besides the automotive and technology industries, which other industries will the low-altitude economy impact?

Su Qingpeng: Regarding the low-altitude economy, I believe it is primarily an economic form that requires scaled development and support from new productive forces. It combines low-altitude and ground first, second, and third industries, aiming to solve problems that cannot be addressed on the ground, thus expanding the two-dimensional economy on the ground into a three-dimensional economy.

I believe the entire development process of the low-altitude economy can be divided into three stages. The first stage is exemplified by the manned travel we are currently engaged in, starting with tourism, sightseeing, and short-distance travel experience economy. Next, it will gradually enter the second stage, where air taxis become a reality. By the third stage, it is expected that by 2030, air travel will become a common mode of transportation. Currently, we are in the first stage and gradually entering the second stage.

The main problems we face include the imperfection of regulations and standards, ambiguity in policies and regulations, inadequate infrastructure, and how to achieve high safety with low-cost products. However, we are also confident in the formulation of policies and the government's unification in this regard. Regarding the impact of the low-altitude economy on other industries, I believe it will promote the integration and development of the aviation industry with the automotive industry, tourism industry, and other sectors.

Q: What is the background of GAC Group's launch of flying cars? What does this mean for consumers?

Wu Jian: GAC Group is committed to realizing the beautiful vision of future human mobility and is undergoing various transformations, including in the area of three-dimensional travel. In June last year, we officially released the multi-rotor split flying car technology. Of course, we still have many technical challenges to overcome, such as battery energy density, and how to achieve a combination of travel convenience and low energy consumption To address these issues, we are conducting original or integrated innovations by applying aerodynamics technology from the aviation industry to flying cars, aiming to reduce energy consumption and improve range. Our goal is to cover areas with dense river networks that require cross-regional mobility, such as the Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta.

At the same time, GAC is developing the next generation of battery technology, which will have double the energy density of current battery technology. By that day, I believe the Greater Bay Area will be able to fully cover the ecological applications of flying cars.

Q: What difficulties did GAC encounter during the research and development of the composite wing flying car, and what innovations were made in the process?

Wang Linlin: In fact, flying cars are a natural extension of the new four modernizations of automobiles. GAC has extensive experience and a solid foundation in three electric technologies, intelligent driving, and complex system development. At the same time, we have also introduced a large number of aviation talents. We did not encounter technical difficulties during the research and development of flying cars.

During the R&D process, we focused on flight safety. For example, we adopted eight sets of power devices to ensure safety and controllability even if one to two sets of power devices fail. Our power batteries are also multi-pack, so any single pack failure will not affect the overall power output.

Q: The flying car project is very capital-intensive. When the decision was made to launch this project, was there an expectation of when it would become profitable? Additionally, will we consider listing this project in the future?

Wu Jian: Regarding profitability, I believe that as flying car technology continues to mature and market demand increases, this project will definitely achieve good economic and social benefits. As for the listing issue, we are also considering it, but there are currently no specific plans.

Q: How is GAC Research Institute promoting development in cutting-edge fields?

Wu Jian: In terms of layout in cutting-edge fields, GAC Research Institute has always adhered to the development philosophy of "maintaining one generation, developing one generation, reserving one generation, and researching one generation." We have established a series of forward-looking technology research projects and collaborated with national ministries, commissions, and universities to carry out major breakthrough projects.

At the same time, we also focus on creating an innovative atmosphere and stimulating the innovative vitality of young engineers. We have established innovation incentive mechanisms such as the Youth Fund and Doctoral Fund to encourage young employees and doctoral teams to engage in research and innovation in cutting-edge technologies.

Through the implementation of these measures, we have gradually achieved a series of important innovative results. In the future, we will continue to increase our investment and layout in cutting-edge fields, promoting the innovative development of GAC Research Institute to reach new heights.

Q: As a brand new low-altitude travel ecological brand, what expectations and plans do you have for Gao Yu as its founder?

Su Qingpeng: GAC has always been committed to becoming a creator of mobile life value, adding value to human mobility for a better life. We will continue to develop core technologies around human-centered travel needs. We will insist on mastering key core technology resources, relying on our mature customer operation platform and GAC's integrated industrial chain and ecosystem to promote the research and development of low-altitude technology. Our aircraft products will serve as the core, dedicated to enhancing the convenience and efficiency of low-altitude flight Question: Who are the main target groups for promotion? Is it the government, enterprises, or individuals? Also, who will hold the operational rights?

Su Qingpeng: Currently, our main target group for promotion is primarily the B-end, while the C-end will be relatively less. As we all know, the automotive industry is undergoing a development phase characterized by electrification, intelligence, networking, and sharing. One significant feature of sharing is the accessibility and equality brought by technology, meaning people do not need to purchase vehicles themselves but can enjoy the convenience brought by technology through payment. Therefore, we will initially focus on the B-end and gradually promote the implementation of C-end products.

The operational rights belong to the operating party. The operation of autonomous flying vehicles involves multiple aspects such as production scheduling algorithms, inter-departmental collaboration, data tools, and autopilot instruments. All of these require the operating company to collaborate with other relevant parties for development and implementation.

Question: Will the large-scale commercialization of autonomous driving land faster on cars or on flying cars?

Wang Linlin: In the automotive field, due to the diversity of ground regulations and the complexity of road conditions, the implementation of autonomous driving technology will face some policy risks. In the flying field, although there are certain restrictions on airspace management, the space in the air is relatively broader, with fewer collision risks or suddenly appearing non-cooperative targets like on the ground. Therefore, from a technical perspective, flying cars may achieve full automation sooner. Of course, regulatory factors also need to be considered.

Wu Jian: Everyone has experienced flying on an airplane. Except for the takeoff and landing phases, most of the cruising time is done by autopilot. Therefore, it can be said that autonomous driving has already been realized in the sky. Our flying cars combine the autonomous driving technology of cars with vertical takeoff and landing technology, enabling both cruising phase autonomous driving and takeoff and landing phase autonomous driving, thus possessing the capability for full-process autonomous driving