On November 12, at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, GAC unveiled its self-developed flying car called GOVE and completed the first demonstration of the flight cabin taking off from the car’s chassis.
Earlier, after completing its maiden flight at GAC Technology Day in 2023, GOVE completed its first flight demonstration in a low-altitude urban environment over the Guangzhou Central Business District in March this year. On September 11, GAC officially obtained the civil unmanned aerial vehicle special flight certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China Central and Southern Region.
About GOVE
GOVE is a pure electric vertical take-off and landing flying car (eVTOL), adopting a decoupling split configuration in which the flight cabin and chassis can be separated or combined to realize three scenarios: ground driving, air flight, and air-ground docking.
The design concept of GOVE is derived from halo – the light of the future, according to the official. The halo is infinite, symbolizing the infinite possibilities of exploring a better future travel.
GOVE’s chassis is both an intelligent take-off and landing platform for the flight cabin as well as a mobile charging station. After the flight cabin flies off the chassis, the chassis can find a nearby charging station to recharge. When the flight cabin is ready to land, the nearby chassis establishes encrypted communication with the flight cabin, assisting the flight cabin in precise docking and landing, and recharging the flight cabin.
The GOVE flight cabin adopts a 6-axis 12-propeller multi-rotor configuration, and the single-axis output lift exceeds one-third of the maximum take-off weight.
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Looking ahead, GAC announced that it is conducting more development to comply with the Chinese civil aviation passenger aircraft development and support system to meet the safety standards. So far, more than 400 flight verifications have been carried out.
By 2027, GAC targets to launch a flying car pilot operation in two or three cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
According to the estimation of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, by 2025, the market size of China’s low-altitude economy will reach 1.5 trillion yuan (207.6 billion USD) and is expected to exceed 3.5 trillion yuan (484.5 billion USD) by 2035. Many vehicle manufacturers including Xpeng, Chery, and Geely are all attempting to capture this market opportunity.
Source: Dianwo, Autohome, Cls
