Xpeng will make a splash at CES 2025 with a six-wheeled MPV capable of deploying a drone

The transition to electric mobility has gradually reached a growing number of market segments, and today there is practically none where some manufacturer does not offer at least one model with a fully electric powertrain. Saloons, SUVs, pickups, 7-seat estates, vans, 4x4s… whatever vehicle you are looking for, you are sure to find the electric model that suits your needs.

Xpeng AeroHT, a subsidiary of the Chinese electric car manufacturer Xpeng, believes however that it has found a gap in the market that nobody has yet reached and where it can make a difference.

The Chinese company plans to market a six-wheeled MPV capable of carrying and deploying a large drone. This vehicle, called Land Aircraft Carrier -which would translate as “Land Aircraft Carrier”- will be shown for the first time in the West during the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show CES 2025, which will begin in just a few days, as every year, in the American city of Las Vegas, in the state of Nevada.

You have never seen anything like it

According to the company, the Land Aircraft Carrier consists of two different vehicles integrated into one. The base, called Mothership, is an MPV with six wheels distributed across three axles, featuring a fully electric powertrain supported by a combustion engine acting as a range extender. This engine, located at the front, feeds the vehicle’s own battery pack when necessary, which ultimately supplies energy to the electric motors that actually propel it. This is something we have already seen in many other electric vehicles with range extenders, but in this case, additionally, the combustion engine also serves to recharge the battery of the drone it carries.

When the road ends, simply by pressing a button on this peculiar MPV, the drone will deploy, allowing two passengers to go further, but this time through the air. Once the rotor arms are extended after being removed from the MPV, the pilot can operate it from inside, although it is also possible to do so from outside using a remote control. Xpeng AeroHT assures that this six-rotor drone with electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) can be flown with one hand thanks to its innovative single-lever control system and, they promise, it is possible to learn to fly it in just five minutes and master its handling in about three hours.

As for the drone’s technical specifications, for now what we know is that its battery can be charged from 30% to 80% in just 18 minutes, and with a full charge it supports between five and six flights, although the duration of these flights has not been announced.

Xpeng AeroHT is very serious about this project

So far, it must be said, everything sounds like science fiction, and you are surely thinking, quite rightly, that this is only one of those prototypes some manufacturers present from time to time to grab media attention at a world-class event such as the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in a few days in Las Vegas, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Last November, Xpeng AeroHT already carried out the first public unmanned flight of the six-rotor drone in China, and the company has announced that production and deliveries of this MPV with integrated drone in that market will begin in 2026, with planned annual production of 10,000 units.

It will probably be beyond your budget

Getting one, as we can imagine, will not be cheap. The Land Aircraft Carrier will go on sale in the Chinese market at a price of around two million yuan, which at current exchange rates amounts to roughly 270,000 euros. The company says it has already registered two thousand advance orders in its local market and, although this has not been confirmed, does not rule out launching it outside that market. In any case, its presentation to Western audiences at a show like CES 2025 makes that much more likely.