China's Southeast University research team independently developed the country's first distributed electric drive flying car, 'Dongda Kunpeng No. 1', which made its stunning debut on January 1st. 'Dongda Kunpeng No. 1' is the first domestic flying car with all-wheel steering, all-wheel drive, and a four-axis eight-propeller configuration. It is also the first land-air integrated flying car in Jiangsu Province. This technology comes from the Department of Vehicle Engineering in the School of Mechanical Engineering and the Jiangsu Provincial Smart Electric Transportation Equipment Engineering Research Center.
The First Land-Air Integrated Flying Car in Jiangsu Province
Traditional electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) are mainly developed as vertical takeoff and landing aerial vehicles, lacking ground mobility, while 'Dongda Kunpeng No. 1' is a land-air integrated configuration, combining the rapid ground movement of terrestrial transport equipment and the flexible movement of aerial transport equipment.
'Dongda Kunpeng No. 1' has a full-body size of 2.1×1.2×1.5 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 500 kilograms, a flight endurance time of ≥20 minutes, and a maximum flight altitude of ≥300 meters. In ground movement mode, it is based on a four-wheel hub distributed electric drive system, front and rear Ackermann steering, and electro-hydraulic composite braking, with a top speed of 60 kilometers per hour.
The project leader, Professor Yin Guodong from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Southeast University, explained: 'We are the first in the country to use distributed electric drive vehicles as carriers to make flying cars. This land-air integrated flying car uses a car as its main carrier, rather than the current drone-based technology route. It can switch freely between ground driving and flying movement.'
Currently, 'Dongda Kunpeng No. 1' relies mainly on high-power power batteries for endurance. Team member Zhuang Weichao stated that the team has also developed an extended-range aviation electric propulsion system, which compared to existing pure battery drive systems, offers high power, long endurance, and high reliability. The flight endurance time is expected to break through 2 hours and will be applied in the next generation of land-air integrated flying cars.