Shares of General Motors hit a report excessive in intraday buying and selling Tuesday after the automaker unveiled a brand new electrical van and revealed potential plans to delve into futuristic flying vehicles.

The Detroit automaker’s inventory was up by as a lot as 8.8% to $48.95 a share as of Tuesday morning, resulting in a roughly $70 billion market cap. Its earlier excessive of $46.76 occurred in October 2017. It is a report because the automaker emerged from chapter throughout the Nice Recession and went public in 2010.

GM CEO Mary Barra and different executives mentioned the plans as a part of the CES expertise convention, which is being streamed on-line this 12 months.

The EV600 electric van is scheduled to go on sale later this 12 months via a brand new industrial enterprise unit of GM’s referred to as BrightDrop. The division is planning a full portfolio of electrical merchandise, not simply automobiles, together with a supply pallet that was unveiled Tuesday.

The potential foray into “private air mobility” was introduced as a part of Cadillac’s portfolio of luxurious and EV automobiles. It included an autonomous shuttle and an electrical vertical take-off and touchdown (eVTOL) plane, or extra generally referred to as a flying automotive or air taxi.

Michael Simcoe, vice chairman of GM’s world design, stated every idea mirrored “the wants and desires of the passengers at a selected second in time and GM’s imaginative and prescient of the way forward for transportation.”

“This can be a particular second for Basic Motors as we reimagine the way forward for private transportation for the following 5 years and past,” Simcoe stated.

The flying car is designed to carry one passenger and journey roughly 56 mph between rooftops and different city locations, in response to the corporate. A GM spokeswoman confirmed GM has designed fashions of each autonomous ideas, however laptop renderings had been simulated throughout the presentation. She declined to supply different particulars.

Regardless of uncertainties round private air mobility, Morgan Stanley expects the autonomous city plane market may be worth $1.5 trillion by 2040.

The section is attracting main investments from the automotive and aviation industries. Fiat Chrysler earlier Tuesday introduced a brand new partnership with air mobility company Archer to assist decrease prices and speed up the launch of an eVTOL plane. Different corporations concerned within the section embody Joby, Boeing-backed Wisk and Hyundai Motor.