Holy Escape Chopper, Batman. It's Xpeng's Land Aircraft Carrier.

The Consumer Electronics Show, the biggest trade show in the US, is a gadget-loving engineer's dream. It has also become a place where automobile manufacturers show off their tech. Mercedes debuted their full-width LED screen at CES 2018. This year, the talk of the show might be something of vastly greater scale: Xpeng modular vehicle/aircraft called the Land Aircraft Carrier, a 6-wheel EV that ejects a 2-seat quadcopter.

With only 2 weeks to go, invitations for meetings and announcements for products on display at CES 2025 are flying in fast and furious, but the “land carrier” trumps them all – so far. I made a note to cover it for ENGtechnica and did a quick write-up.

Xpeng’s AeroHT’s Land Aircraft carrier will make its US debut at CES 2025 after being flown at China's Zhuhai Air Show and at Xpeng’s factory.

You could dismiss Land Aircraft Carriers for many reasons. There were only artist depictions. Was this even real? It was made in China. It was too fanciful/unsafe/untested/heavy… It’s probably too expensive.

The CES announcement contains no pricing but CarNewsChina reveals the Land Carrier to cost $280k. Why, that’s only the cost of a Bentley.

You could question the need for it.

But 12 companies have found a need for them, ordering 2,008 Land Aircraft Carriers according to the company. This after a successful drive/flight at the Zhuhai Air Show, China's biggest airshow, mostly a showcase for their military aircraft. That adds to the over a thousand land aircraft carriers previously ordered. Two unidentified companies in Hangzhou have ordered 150 of them.