Flying Cars Poised to Unlock Trillion-Yuan Market in China

China’s flying car industry is accelerating toward commercialization, with 2026 widely recognized as the mass production year for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. According to a June 8 report from CCTV News, the sector is poised to unlock a multi-trillion yuan market, driven by strong policy support, technological breakthroughs in solid-state batteries, and concrete progress in airworthiness certification.

Policy Backing Elevates Low-Altitude Economy

The 2026 Government Work Report designated the low-altitude economy as an emerging pillar industry, incorporating it into the 15th Five-Year Plan as a major strategic task, as reported by the Southern Metropolis Daily. This policy upgrade signals long-term government commitment to an industry that encompasses flying cars, drones, and related infrastructure.

Guangdong Province has emerged as the national leader, with over 15,000 low-altitude economy enterprises accounting for more than 30% of China’s total, and an industry scale reaching 100 billion yuan. Chengdu, meanwhile, recorded 3.42 million drone flights in 2025 — a 70.2% year-on-year increase, according to the China News Service.

EHang Achieves Historic Certification Milestone

A landmark moment for the industry came in 2025 when EHang’s EH216-S became the world’s first manned aircraft to obtain all four essential airworthiness certificates: Type Certificate (TC), Production Certificate (PC), Standard Airworthiness Certificate (AC), and Operation Certificate (OC), as detailed by Sina Finance. The 2-seat autonomous aircraft, which supports vertical takeoff and landing, is now operating daily commercial flights in Guangzhou and Hefei, primarily serving aerial tourism.

Wang Zhao, Chief Operating Officer of EHang, told reporters that the successful flight of the EH216 series across the Qiongzhou Strait — a 22-kilometer crossing completed in just 18 minutes — validates its adaptability in complex cross-sea environments. “This lays a solid technical foundation for future Hainan-Guangdong low-altitude transportation coordination,” he said.

New Manufacturing Base and Growing Order Books

In Guangzhou, a new flying car smart manufacturing base combining automotive efficiency with aviation standards recently began operations. The facility has an annual design capacity of 100 units, producing a multi-rotor aircraft with a 30-kilometer range that can carry two passengers. It has already received over 2,000 intent orders, primarily for tourism and cultural scenarios.

AutoFlight, another key player, is developing a 6-seat tilt-rotor eVTOL with a maximum speed of 230 km/h. Phase 1 verification flights have been completed in Chengdu. Liang Jiong, a spokesperson for AutoFlight, highlighted the transformative potential: “From Qingcheng Mountain directly to Shuangliu Airport, it’s expected to take only 9 minutes — just one-fifth of the time of traditional ground transportation.” The company has accumulated nearly 2,000 intent orders and several hundred confirmed orders.

Solid-State Battery Breakthrough Powers the Revolution

A critical enabler for the flying car industry is progress in battery technology. Solid-state batteries with 1.5 times the energy density of conventional ternary lithium batteries are being applied to eVTOLs. A phone-sized solid-state battery can power a 500-kilogram eVTOL for 0.5 kilometers, and an eVTOL equipped with high-energy solid-state batteries has successfully flown across the Qiongzhou Strait.

Chen Zhongwei, Director of the Energy Catalysis Key Laboratory at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, noted that in the short term, liquid and solid-liquid hybrid batteries will remain mainstream. “All-solid-state will be a good development technology in the future. In the long term, all three technologies will advance together,” he said, adding that China’s overall solid-state battery R&D level and application demonstration verification are at the international forefront.

Market Projections and Expert Outlook

Professor Zhang Yangjun of Tsinghua University projects that large-scale application of flying cars is expected around 2035. “When flying cars become a means of daily transportation for the general public, it is expected to drive a 10-trillion-yuan market,” he stated in the CCTV report.

Industry experts note that current applications focus on high-value, time-sensitive scenarios such as emergency medical transport, specialized fire rescue, and point-to-point premium shuttle services. Over the next decade, as technology matures and prices become more accessible, hailing an air taxi through a ride-hailing app could become a reality.

Challenges Ahead

Despite the rapid progress, significant challenges remain. National CPPCC Member Yao Jianming emphasized that “standardization must be the prerequisite for low-altitude economy development.” Industry standards remain unclear, with some enterprises relying on policy subsidies and business models not yet fully proven. Safety regulation is another concern, as unauthorized flights continue to disrupt industry order and threaten public safety.

Battery technology faces hurdles in material yield rates as it transitions from lab to mass production. Infrastructure gaps — including insufficient low-altitude micro-weather monitoring and cross-regional airspace coordination mechanisms — also need to be addressed. Additionally, there is a shortage of multi-disciplinary talent combining aviation and automotive expertise.

What to Watch For

As 2026 progresses, several key developments will shape the industry’s trajectory: the unification of national standards for low-altitude airspace management across provinces, the pace of solid-state battery mass production, and public acceptance of autonomous flying vehicles. With EHang already operating in 21 countries across five continents and XPeng HT Aero planning mass production of its Land Aircraft Carrier this year, China’s eVTOL industry is positioning itself as a global leader in what could become one of the most transformative transportation revolutions of the 21st century.