Courtesy of Xu Huaxiang/Interviewee
Xu Huaxiang: Chief Strategy Officer of EHang Intelligence, he was the head and executive director of the Asia-Pacific Transportation Research Department at Morgan Stanley, an international financial services company, where he was responsible for leading the research team covering China's aviation and transportation-related industries, including aviation, logistics, airports, railways and other fields. In 2019, he joined EHang Intelligent and was responsible for the company's strategic planning and execution.
If you've seen Hal's Moving Castle, I'm sure you'll be impressed by the flying castle. From the ground to the air, from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, today, such a convenient way of travel that "can fly" has also shone into reality from the screen, becoming Xu Huaxiang's dream of working hard, struggling for and shocking.
Having worked in the world's top multinational investment bank for 15 years, when he first came into contact with the concept of urban air transportation, he was deeply attracted and resolutely decided to go halfway from the financial industry to the physical industry and join EHang Intelligence as chief strategy officer. There are many difficulties and challenges in the face of unfamiliar territory, but he prefers to describe the joy gained on the way to explore, "always keep curious, keep moving forward, and constantly innovate the past." ”
After joining EHang Intelligence, his life trajectory is deeply integrated with the development of urban air traffic. In this unprecedented field, he stands at the forefront of the industry, with his own hills in his chest: "Air mobility must be the future of urban development". He participates in the planning and construction of urban air traffic, and will also witness the advent of the era of three-dimensional transportation.
Cross-line: "Always keep a curiosity"
Before joining EHang Intelligence, Xu Huaxiang's life trajectory and in this young company rarely intersected. He has 15 years of industry research experience in the Transportation Research Department of Morgan Stanley, a leading international financial services company in the world, as the Chief Analyst of Asia-Pacific Transportation, conducting research and analysis on aviation, airports, logistics and other industries. For this career change, he called it "interbank" - from the financial industry to the real industry.
The fate began with a business meeting. In 2019, EHang Intelligent is preparing to raise funds through an IPO in the United States. Morgan Stanley, as the world's top equity underwriter, conducts due diligence on EHang Intelligence (referring to the investigation of the company's assets, liabilities and operating conditions, as well as industry competition). It was also because of this opportunity that Xu Huaxiang met hu Huazhi, the founder and CEO of the company, and after talking with him for more than 6 hours, he resolutely decided to join EHang Intelligence.
In this conversation, he seemed to see the future of urban transportation, but also saw the development prospects of EHang Intelligence. "In the past hundred years, the development of the global air traffic industry has not changed much. However, as a new and innovative technology, manned autonomous vehicles are different from traditional modes of transportation. Its birth heralds the great changes that will take place in the future of urban air traffic development, which can greatly alleviate the problem of urban congestion and exhaust pollution, bring us a new way of travel and lifestyle, and is a very promising industry. It was this that attracted me deeply. "The course of life has changed since then.
Interlacing is like a mountain, and crossing the line also means difficulties and challenges. From autonomous flight piloting to UAM (Urban Air Traffic), it's almost a completely unfamiliar field. Speaking of this, Xu Huaxiang looked calm, and he preferred to describe this as a "pleasure of exploration" than the strangeness and difficulties brought about by the crossing. For him, constantly exploring new things and meeting challenges in the unknown is a love and a habit.
In September 2021, EHang 216-S conducted a manned flight demonstration in Sanya, Hainan.
"When I used to be an analyst at Morgan Stanley, maintaining a strong curiosity and constantly researching and analyzing new things was part of my job," he says. Over the past fifteen years, this "curiosity" and "exploration" have gradually turned into an internal driving force, an instinct, constantly pushing him to continue to move forward in unknown areas.
In the past three years of joining EHang Intelligence, Xu Huaxiang has always believed that "this is a very correct choice" because it conforms to the future, conforms to the trend of urban transportation development, and also conforms to the heart.
Sailing: "Constantly innovating the past"
After the trajectory of life intersected with EHang Intelligence, he also experienced the difficulties encountered by the company on the road ahead and the glory of the harvest.
Xu Huaxiang still clearly remembers December 12, 2019, which was the day EHang Intelligent was listed on the NASDAQ in the United States. As the company's chief strategy officer, he and the company's founders Hu Huazhi, co-founders Xiong Yifang and Xiao Shangwen and others launched the listing bell ringing ceremony, ranging the opening bell representing the success of the first stock transaction.
"At that time, I was very excited, and I personally went to nasdaq to ring the bell to go public, which was the first time in my life and a manifestation of the results of my work after joining EHang. I was involved in the entire listing process, coordinating various matters and participating in the company's roadshow to investors. ”
The nasdaq bell sounded the beginning of EHang Intelligence in the international capital market, and also issued the first applause for Xu Huaxiang's exploration and advancement in new fields. Since then, in the development plan of urban air traffic, he has many challenges and problems, such as how to ensure the safety of manned aircraft and how to bring products to the market.
Due to the particularity of air traffic, no matter where it is launched, in order to achieve commercial flight, it is necessary to issue an airworthiness certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. At present, EHang Intelligent has an airspace license issued by the Air Force, which can carry out temporary flights, but cannot achieve commercial operation, which is the biggest bottleneck hindering commercial development.
"The industry we are in is a very innovative field globally, and there is no precedent to follow. Flying people into the air, many people will have concerns and concerns about safety issues, for example, is this thing immature in technology, is it safe and legal? Therefore, when our products are introduced to the market, they will inevitably encounter various difficulties and resistances. Xu Huaxiang said.
Xu Huaxiang participated in the 2020 China Entrepreneur Boao Forum. Courtesy of respondents
In order to overcome the resistance, he and the company's management led EHang Intelligent to make a lot of efforts. First of all, the "full backup" system and power redundancy design are adopted technically to ensure safety; secondly, in the most important airworthiness certification, the company strives to use safer and more reliable flight cases to prove the safety and feasibility of the aircraft, and cooperates with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the Central and Southern Regional Administration and other relevant departments to carry out airworthiness certification.
"It is our goal to make manned air autonomous non-aircraft operate and serve society." At this time, Xu Huaxiang's voice was calm and firm.
As the chief strategy officer of EHang Intelligence, he has a lot of work every day, and is responsible for the company's macro strategy control as a whole, which makes him bear a lot of pressure. However, when it comes to this, Xu Huaxiang only said in one sentence, "There is nothing special, it is some daily trivial work." During the conversation, the frustrations and frustrations encountered at work are not even worth mentioning: "I don't remember, I can't say it." ”
"Anyway, I think every day's work is challenging. Keeping a curious heart, constantly exploring and learning, constantly innovating the past, I think that's the most important thing. He said.
Blueprint: "Air Mobility is the Future of Urban Development"
Counting up, Xu Huaxiang, who is "halfway out of the house", is not as old as the manned autonomous aerial vehicle EHang 216 that he later took over, which was first born in 2015, 7 years ago. After joining EHang Intelligence, his life trajectory is almost deeply integrated with the development of EHang 216, and they achieve mutual achievements.
To this day, the shock of the first manned aircraft ride still remains deeply in his heart. It was an afternoon in March 2019, when he set off from Morgan Stanley's Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong to perform due diligence work at EHang Intelligent, and at the invitation of the company's founder, Hu Huazhi, he boarded the manned vehicle that had only been imaginary in the past. "It was something beyond imagination, and I used to think that this kind of flying machine just stayed in the drawings or the laboratory." At that time, in the tens of meters high sky of Guangzhou World Grand View Park, the spring weather was clear, Xu Huaxiang sat in a manned aerial vehicle overlooking the scenery under his feet, and the feeling in his heart was only shocking, "It is really incredible, I can really sit on it and fly." It was also from this that the blueprint of urban air traffic planted a sprouting seed in his heart.
Nowadays, after several iterations, more than 20,000 flights in the city air, EHang 216 has delivered more than 100 units to the whole society, mainly used in some special fields such as urban tourism. The manned autonomous aerial vehicle needs a long and complex process to achieve commercial operation and truly go to civilian use. However, in Xu Huaxiang's planning, it is now very close to the realization of the dream.
"Our airworthiness certification work has come to a critical step, and after a long period of cooperation and communication in the early stage, it should be possible to complete airworthiness certification this year and then gradually bring it to the market." As for how much will be put into the market in the future, it depends on the needs of the market," he said.
In November 2021, EHang 216-S conducted a manned flight demonstration at the Zhuhai Grand Theater "Sun Moon Bay". Courtesy of respondents
Compared with any moment in the past, Xu Huaxiang is more confident in the development of EHang Intelligence and even urban air traffic at this time, "The development of the city should not stay in the two-dimensional traffic on the ground, but should become a three-dimensional three-dimensional transportation, which is the future of urban development and the inevitable trend of china's and even global transportation development." At present, the aircraft we have built and a whole air-ground connection system based on algorithms and software have provided a proven model for the development of urban air traffic. ”
For the development of three-dimensional transportation, Xu Huaxiang has his own hills in his heart: "The future has come, the new three-dimensional transportation, and the era of smart travel have begun."
At this point in his life, he talked about the future, talking more about the future, he had more of a calm and comfortable precipitated by the years, and the outline of the coming day became clearer: "So that the company can realize the commercialization of UAM as soon as possible and become the world's first real UAM solution provider and platform operator." ”
Producer: Liu Lijun
Planner: Xie Jiangtao, Zuo Zhihong, Gao Chunming
Coordinator: Lin Shaojuan Liu Jie
Written by: Aoyi news reporter Feng Xiaohui