On December 9, a flying-car joint laboratory co‑established by Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (JAC), the Hefei Institute of Unmanned Intelligent Equipment of Beijing Institute of Technology, and IAT Automotive Technology Co., Ltd. was inaugurated in Hefei. This innovative platform precisely targets key links in the development of the low‑altitude economy, injecting strong momentum into Hefei’s efforts to capture new tracks in the future transportation industry and cultivate new quality productive forces.

Why establish a flying‑car joint laboratory?

The low‑altitude economy has been incorporated into national and local development plans. As an important vehicle, flying cars combine the attributes of both automobiles and aircraft, and hold broad application prospects in emergency rescue, tourism and sightseeing, and urban commuting. However, constrained by key technologies, standards and operational models, the industry still faces a series of common challenges that urgently require coordinated efforts across the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. The establishment of the joint laboratory is both a pragmatic step to break the industry impasse and a key measure for Hefei to implement national strategy and lay out emerging industries.

How will the three partners achieve complementary strengths and form a united effort?

The core competitiveness of the flying‑car joint laboratory established in Hefei stems from the highly complementary resources and technical strengths of the three parties, forming a complete closed loop from technology R&D to industry deployment.

Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (JAC), with over 60 years of technological accumulation, has amassed rich experience in full‑vehicle forward development, intelligent connected new energy technologies, and smart manufacturing. It has built a global industrial chain and technological innovation system supporting ultra‑high‑end vehicles and future intelligent carriers, providing strong support for the engineering and industrialization of flying‑car products.

Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) possesses deep technical foundations and talent advantages in unmanned intelligent systems and aircraft engineering, and in 2022 completed the development of the world’s first detachable flying car engineering prototype, the UAM650. The Hefei Institute of Unmanned Intelligent Equipment of BIT, a new R&D institution jointly established by BIT and the Hefei municipal government, has unique advantages in technology origination and resource integration.

IAT Automotive Technology Co., Ltd., as a forward‑technology driven innovation enterprise, has been deeply involved in automotive R&D for more than 20 years and possesses a full‑loop capability from concept creation to engineering realization and test verification.

Next, how will the flying‑car joint laboratory focus its efforts precisely?

According to the cooperation agreement, the joint laboratory will address the full chain of flying cars "from configuration design to operational modes," focusing collaborative research on nine core areas: aerodynamic configuration optimization, efficient energy propulsion, precise flight control, integrated ground‑air decision‑making and planning, intelligent cockpit and connectivity technologies, intelligent chassis technologies, test verification methods and system construction, operational models and scenario demonstrations, among others. The goal is to gradually build a relatively complete technical system and test verification platform.

The industry generally believes the flying‑car joint laboratory is likely to become an important lever for Hefei’s deployment of the low‑altitude economy and future transportation. On one hand, it will help accelerate breakthroughs in key flying‑car technologies and generate a number of core achievements with independent intellectual property; on the other hand, it will attract related upstream and downstream enterprises and innovation resources to Hefei, injecting new vitality into the local new energy vehicle and intelligent connected industries.

Source: Anhui Daily