Flying cars, 'edible' robots come together at Dubai tech exhibit
GITEX brought in more than 4,000 exhibitors from about 170 countries to demonstrate their products and share their knowledge.
DUBAI — In a straight vertical line, the spaceship-like flying car rose up in the air about 30 feet as around 150 attendees in Dubai cheered Chinese electric vehicle maker XPENG AEROHT's first public display of its X2 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) on Oct. 10.
While it gave a glimpse of what our near future could look like, with ambulances flying over traffic to save lives or you soaring over your morning commute to work to save time, the technology is far from the fantasy of driving off the road and into the air like the 1960s animated futuristic cartoon “The Jetsons” or the ending of the American classic musical movie “Grease.”
Technology vs. reality
The latest model XPENG X2 can stay in the air for about 35 minutes at a height below 1,000 meters (3,300 feet), move either up and down or forward and backward, and has a maximum takeoff weight of 760 kilograms (1,675 pounds), according to the electric vehicle company.
