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AeroHT, XPeng’s electric air mobility arm, has shared an update on the progress of its Land Aircraft Carrier. AeroHT’s modular flying car is scheduled for public crewed test flights this fall ahead of mass production and customer deliveries in 2026 and will cost at most $280,000.

AeroHT is an affiliate of XPeng Inc., which is majority owned by the company and its founder, He Xiaopeng. Since beginning operations over a decade ago, AeroHT has specialized in developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.

AeroHT publicly showcased early flight success on the propellers of its X2 “flying car,” an eVTOL that shares design DNA with XPeng brand EVs. However, during XPeng’s annual 1024 event last fall, AeroHT unveiled two new flying car designs – an actual flying car called the X3 that can drive, park, and take off on its own, as well as a modular EV that transports a separate eVTOL in its rear.

The latter, named the Land Aircraft Carrier, was initially scheduled to enter scaled production in 2025 ahead of customer deliveries in China, allowing customers to simultaneously navigate the roads and the skies.

This past March, the EV/eVTOL combo vessel achieved airworthiness certification by the Civil Aviation Administration of Central and Southern China (CAAC), moving it closer to scaled production. Most recently, AeroHT’s founder and president shared an update about the flying car, which will perform human-crewed flights in front of the public this November.

AeroHT flying car
Source: XPeng AeroHT

XPeng AeroHT’s share updated flying car timeline

During a live stream event held in China earlier today, XPeng AeroHT founder and President Zhao Deli publicly debuted the Land Aircraft Carrier to the public for the first time and shared an update on the eVTOL’s progress and plans.

As initially promised, AeroHT will begin accepting pre-orders for the modular flying car before the end of 2024. However, mass production has been pushed a bit from Q4 2025 to sometime in 2026.

We also have a better idea of the cost of AeroHT’s potentially groundbreaking flying car combo. Per Deli, the Land Aircraft Carrier will cost no more than RMB 2 million ($280,740).

Part of the reason for the production delay appears to be the awaited construction of Xpeng AeroHT’s new factory in Guangzhou, China, which will begin by the end of this month or early October at the latest and is expected to deliver the first flying car prototype off its production line by July 31, 2025.

When complete, that facility is anticipated to produce over 10,000 eVTOLs per year and serve as a vital hub for AeroHT, which aims to deliver more eVTOLs around the globe than any other company in the space.

Before mass production of the Land Aircraft Carrier begins, Deli said AeroHT is planning its first crewed demonstration of the modular flying car for the public in China at the Zhuhai Airshow, which will take place November 12-17, 2024. The vehicle will also be displayed at the Guangzhou Auto Show later that month.

AeroHT is gaining momentum in 2024. In August, it completed a successful Series B1 funding round that garnered $150 million. This was quickly followed by a B2 round to raise even more funding for plant construction and mass production.

We will circle back in November following those flying car test flights and hopefully have some video footage to share.

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Block leads rebound in fintech stocks as analysts downplay JPMorgan data fee risk

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Block leads rebound in fintech stocks as analysts downplay JPMorgan data fee risk

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies during a remote video hearing held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on “Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation” in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2021.

Handout | Via Reuters

Block jumped more than 5% on Monday, leading a rally in shares of fintech companies as analysts downplayed the threat of JPMorgan Chase’s reported plan to charge data aggregators for access to customer financial information.

The recovery followed steep declines on Friday, after Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan had circulated pricing sheets outlining potential fees for aggregators like Plaid and Yodlee, which connect fintech platforms to users’ bank data.

In a note to clients on Monday, Evercore ISI analysts said the potential new expenses were “far from a ‘business model-breaking’ cost increase.”

In addition to Block’s rise, PayPal climbed 3.5% on Monday after sliding Friday. Robinhood and Shift4 recorded modest gains.

Broader market momentum helped fuel some of the rebound. The Nasdaq closed at a record, and crypto rallied, with bitcoin climbing past $123,000. Ether, solana, and other altcoins also gained.

JPMorgan announces plans to charge for access to customer bank data

Evercore ISI’s analysts said that even if JPMorgan’s changes were implemented, the most immediate effect would be a slight bump in the cost of one-time account setups — perhaps 50 to 60 cents.

Morgan Stanley echoed that view, writing that any impact would be “negligible,” especially for large fintechs that rely more on debit, credit, or stored balances than bank account pulls for transactions.

PayPal doesn’t anticipate much short-term impact, according to a person with knowledge of the issue. The person, who asked not to be named in order to speak about private financial matters, noted that PayPal relies on aggregators primarily for account verification and already has long-term pricing contracts in place.

While smaller fintechs that depend heavily on automated clearing house (ACH) rails or Open Banking frameworks for onboarding and compliance may face real pressure if the fees take effect, analysts said the larger platforms are largely insulated.

WATCH: Congress moves to redraw $3.7 trillion crypto market rules, opening door to Wall Street

Congress moves to redraw $3.7 trillion crypto market rules, opening door to Wall Street

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EV sales hit 9.1M globally in H1 2025, but the US just hit the brakes

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EV sales hit 9.1M globally in H1 2025, but the US just hit the brakes

The global EV market is still charging ahead. According to new numbers from global research firm Rho Motion, 9.1 million EVs were sold worldwide in the first half of 2025, up 28% compared to the same period last year. But not every region is accelerating at the same pace.

China and Europe are doing the heavy lifting

More than half of the world’s EVs this year have been bought in China. That market hit 5.5 million sales in the first six months of 2025 – a 32% jump year-over-year. Around half of new cars bought in China are now electric.

While some Chinese cities’ subsidies have dried up, Rho Motion expects momentum to pick back up later in the year as more funding is released.

In Europe, 2 million EVs were sold in the first half of the year, up 26%. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales also rose 26%, thanks in part to affordable models like the Renault 4 (pictured) and 5 entering the market. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) weren’t far behind, growing 27% year-to-date. Chinese automakers are leaning into PHEVs as a way to work around the EU’s new tariffs on BEVs.

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Spain is leading the pack with EV sales soaring 85% so far this year. Its generous MOVES III incentive program was extended in April and has kept sales strong. The UK and Germany are also seeing solid growth – 32% and 40%, respectively. France, however, is slumping. With subsidies cut, EV sales there have dropped 13%.

North America is stuck in the slow lane

Things aren’t looking quite as bright in North America. EV sales in the US, Canada, and Mexico are up just 3% so far this year.

Mexico is the one bright spot, with a 20% boost. The US is up 6%. But Canada is down a whopping 23%.

And things could get bumpier. On July 4, Trump signed Congress’s big bill into law, which axes all the Inflation Reduction Act EV tax credits. Those consumer credits for EVs now officially end on September 30.

Just over half of the EVs sold in the US this year qualified for those credits. Rho Motion predicts a rush in Q3 before the subsidies disappear – and a decline in sales after that.

Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said, “With Trump’s latest cuts in his ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ the US could struggle to see any growth in the EV market overall in 2025.”

Global EV sales snapshot, H1 2025 vs H1 2024

  • Global: 9.1 million (+28%)
  • China: 5.5 million (+32%)
  • Europe: 2.0 million (+26%)
  • North America: 0.9 million (+3%)
  • Rest of world: 0.7 million (+40%)

Read more: China breaks records as global EV sales hit 7.2 million in 2025


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The Lucid Air is crushing the competition as the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US

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The Lucid Air is crushing the competition as the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US

Lucid’s electric sedan can drive further, charge faster, and packs more advanced tech than most of the competition. That might explain why it’s leading the segment. The Lucid Air remained the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US after widening its lead in the Q2.

The Lucid Air is America’s best-selling luxury EV sedan

The 2025 Lucid Air Pure arrived as the “World’s most efficient car” with an EPA-estimated range of 420 miles and a record 146 MPGe.

It just set a new Guinness World Record last week for the longest journey by an electric car after travelling 749 miles (1,205 km) on a single charge.

That record was set in the range-topping Lucid Air Grand Touring model, which is rated for up to 512 miles of EPA-estimated range. On the WLTP scale, it’s rated at 597 miles (960 km). Either way, it still crushed the estimates.

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According to second-quarter sales data, released by Kelley Blue Book on Monday, the Lucid Air is still America’s best-selling luxury EV.

Lucid sold 2,630 Air models in Q2, up 10% from the previous year. Through the first half of 2025, Lucid Air sales are up 17% with 5,094 units sold.

Lucid-Air-best-selling-luxury-EV-sedan
Lucid Air (Source: Lucid)

Tesla, on the other hand, only sold 1,435 Model Ss during the quarter, 71% fewer than it did in Q2 2024. Tesla Model S sales in the US are down 70% through the first half of the year at 2,715.

Although Porsche Taycan sales were up 32% with 1,064 models sold, the significantly upgraded 2025 model year was expected to see even more demand. Porsche has 2,083 Taycans in the US this year, up just 1% from 2024.

Lucid-best-selling-luxury-EV-sedan
Lucid Air Pure interior (Source: Lucid)

Other luxury EV sedans, such as the BMW i5 (1,434), i7 (820), and the Mercedes EQS (498), experienced steep double-digit sales declines year-over-year.

And it’s not just electric luxury sedans. The Lucid Air is currently outselling many gas-powered vehicles in its segment.

Lucid-Air-best-selling-luxury-EV-sedan
Lucid Air (left) and Gravity (right) Source: Lucid

Lucid’s first electric SUV, the Gravity, is also rolling out. Although only five were sold in the second quarter, Lucid is quickly scaling production. Lucid aims to produce 20,000 vehicles this year, more than double the roughly 9,000 it built in 2024.

Earlier today, Lucid’s interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, confirmed during an interview with Bloomberg that the company expects higher Gravity output in the second half of the year.

The interview was at the grand opening of Panasonic’s new battery cell plant in De Soto, Kansas. Winterhoff said Lucid will start using new cells from the facility, but not until next year.

Lucid’s CEO stressed the importance of establishing a local supply chain, as policy changes under the Trump Administration are taking effect. Lucid and Panasonic are collaborating to localize EV materials, such as graphite. Last month, Lucid secured a multi-year supply agreement with Graphite One for US-sourced Graphite.

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