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I've seen a couple posts about this car, but here's the latest I've seen released.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/automotive_news/4232400.html

WOW... intresting car. I wonder how much it costs.

Ah yes, you've found a nice update on that one, Blake! According to the website (IIRC) the price for the all electric version is supposed to be around $28K. The hybrid is supposed to go for about $3K less or so.

I know that Basjoos is excited about this and I'd also be very excited to see this car go into production. I'm not sure just how practical it would be but I would just love to get my hands on one of these things to see what could be accomplished with it. :D

Very interesting, clever use of composites to keep weight down and tricycle classification to avoid some of the regs (at least unless the regs are changed!).

But how much do those few solar panels accomplish? Perhaps they might power fans to keep the battery from cooking when it's parked in the sun, but they probably don't capture enough power to recharge the battery measurably. But they may help to sell it.

The aero shape is probably also important for sales. But how useful it is for mpg depends on driving speed. Aero is far less helpful at 50mph than at 70mph. So the design compromises one makes (from an engineering rather than a sales point of view) really depend on one's assumptions and expectations of future driving habits. If you assume that people will insist on going 70mph, then aero weighs more heavily into your design (and leads to compromises in other areas) than if you believe that people will slow down to 50mph.

If you told me two years ago that I would be happily doing 50mph I would have said you were nuts. OTOH, in Europe where fuel prices are far higher than in the US people still blitz along at high speeds on the autoroutes (albeit in FE diesels).

The tricycle configuration was done mainly to reduce drag (one less wheel to add rolling resistance and aero drag). The solar panels are mainly to keep the passenger compartment from getting too hot in a summer parking lot. With all of that fairly horizontal glazing, it would be an oven inside otherwise. I'll be interesting to see how its FE responds to increasing speed. On my car, FE remains constant (in 5th gear) from 30 to 65mph, then starts to roll off slowly above 65mph.

Looks like I got my numbers slightly wrong. From the website:



All Electric This Aptera is powered exclusively with batteries and will get you around town to the tune of approximately 120 miles depending on your driving conditions. At night you simply plug the Aptera into any standard 110 volt outlet and in just a few hours you will have a fully charged vehicle that will take you another 120 miles. The approximate cost of this option with all the features listed above will be $26,900.

Plug-in Series Hybrid This Aptera is also powered by an electric drive train but it is assisted by a fuel efficient gasoline powered generator which stretches your range significantly. In typical driving you may achieve over 300 miles per gallon and you will have range far beyond any passenger vehicle available today. The approximate cost of this option with all the features listed above will be $29,900.

The site does mention that there is a third, infant seat behind and between the two front seats... This will be a very limited practicality vehicle but it is not in any way unique in being only two seats. Now if I just had $1million maybe I could quit worrying about the cost of everything and just get something like this that is practical for most of my driving. (I'm not sure just how much children will impact most of my personal driving...)

Hi All:

___The Aptera was built on 3-wheel’s for exactly the reason Lightfoot posted. They have motorcycle regs to contend with, not automobiles including any and all internal, external and structural safety equipment and requirements, OBD-II and especially automobile emissions standard vs. a motorcycles. The aero part is just a nice addition although from the specs, they are adding the safety bags, seat belt laydened airbags and rear view cameras, an emissions package to at least meet the CA motorcycle regs and it still looks cool as hell ;)

___Its real fuel saving method will be its lightweight and all electric propulsion. Its real selling point is its < $30K price tag :D

___For those wanting a better look, I see their web site has been updated (thank god) since the last time a thread visited them and it looks like they are getting ready for a real launch late next year!

Aptera (www.aptera.com)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Cool looking design.

A couple of thoughts.

Three wheelers with two in front have been around for a long time and are never very successful for the simple reason they tend to kill off or scare off the customers. These things are treacherous even at the speeds the most hard-core hypermiler likes. the rear end has little lateral stability and will do what airplane people call a "ground loop" at the drop of a hat.

I like the idea of CCTV for rear view. I need something like that for my project. I am reliant on my trailer tow mirrors and they are like the dive brakes on a Dauntless for generating drag.

If this car and other electrics become commercially viable on a wide scale, where will the US get all that electricity?

See thats the beauty of plug in hybrids/electric cars. The power grids in this country have to supply enough power to keep up with demand during the day... which is MUCH higher than it is at night.

If people plug in their cars at night when they get home from work or before they goto bed, then they are just using the available capacity that the plants are capable of but are basically sitting running at 40% power.

It's a cool idea but I don't think it will ever take off because it's impractical, not very safe and looks like a sperm cell.

Its safer than you might think... and I happen to think it looks amazingly cool. To each is their own though. Probably won't take off though because of the niche market it will fit in. I'd buy one in a heartbeat if I hadn't bought my insight.

Very interesting. But I do agree about the ground-loop problem. A buddy of mine had a Corbin Sparrow, and he said that it was "very exciting" to drive in the rain. He used to race a Porsche 911 (a notoriously tail-happy tail-engine'd car), so what he considers "exciting" might be rather more toward "terrifying" for most of us.

Having max torque at 0 RPM, plus only a single contact patch, means that if you try to make a turn in wet weather and you run over any paint (like a crosswalk!) with the steering wheel turned at all, you have excellent chances of winding up backwards. Or at least going into a really gnarly power slide! ;)

-soD

More reason for more people to go get real driving lessons ;)

Honestly after several track days in my old subaru, I feel completely confident that I am a MUCH better driver now because I can actually respond to changes in how the car reacts instead of instinctively doing the wrong thing (ie pressing the brake when the rear end slides out)


A weekend at the track should be mandatory for all new drivers regardless of the fuel used or emissions put out. The lessons learned on car handling could be beneficial to all people on the road!

There's nothing more enlightening than coming up to an off-camber blind left hand sweeping corner that the apex is at the crest of a hill at 90-100 mph to reinforce that touching the brakes is the absolute worst possible thing to do when the rear end starts to come around. ;) granted the conditions IRL commuting is MUCH less extreme, the same rules apply!

Hi All:

___I love the tire for its low RRC but its traction may leave something to be desired for some … The Aptera under body pic I saw showed a Bridgestone RE92 in the rear and I can bet they used the Insight specific size looking for every mpg. I will try and find that pic tonight.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi All:

___That did not take long …

http://www.aptera.com/images/6.jpg

___Good Luck

___Wayne