I think Aptera's vision is fantastic. People are quick to judge the looks or three-wheelness of the car, but I think that's just a symptom of cars being marketed as status symbols nowadays.
I am worried about production. With all of the years it's taking them to get there, they can run out of money at any time it seems. It's unknown if they can raise enough money on their terms to get this thing to production.
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mlsu
I love these things. Sadly, it’s like an Elven artifact: a beautiful elegant thing, built for people who just aren’t quite like us. Us (the mass market, 99% of car buyers) are orcs. We look at a thing like this and can’t see the beauty or utility of being efficient and having a light footprint.
> Even on an overcast day, the team saw over 545 watts of solar input
Let’s (generously) assume that was the minimum they saw, and let’s (generously) say they charged for 14 hours. That’s 7.63 kWh gained over the day, in almost ideal conditions. Flagstaff’s high altitude means stronger sunlight, and they can do regenerative braking as they come down the mountain. In my Nissan leaf, 6 kWh would get me about 20 miles. If they are much more efficient, they maybe got 50 miles from the charging on that day, and the other 250 from the charge they started with.
I’d love to be wrong about any of the above! Solar panels on cars would be so cool! It just doesn’t seem useful. Please correct me if I’m mistaken.
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underseacables
I have always adored Aptera, but BYD and Tesla will always eat their lunch. I've been out to the factory in San Diego and driven Luna. It was awesome, but sadly I just don't think it will get funding. The government REALLY screwed them over, not once, but twice with the vehicle loan program. Really wonderful people and an amazing car.
ZeroGravitas
I don't really get what Aptera are aiming for, but solar panels on electric vehicles are a good call in niches already (refrigerated trucks being a low hanging fruit, golf carts) and only set to grow from there.
xnx
A more effective design might be to tow a very thin and light 20 foot trailer of panels. That could work with any EV.
jore
there was a German startup (Sono Sion) some years ago that had a very similar idea and had even prototypes [0], but they filed for insolvency 2-3 years ago. Now I think they pivoted to something more boring and practical - putting solar panels on vehicles. I hope aptera gets to production though
Focusing on efficiency is a good idea, but why is it so big? It’s silly that it’s over 4m long.
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trhway
300-545 watts. Aptera gets 8 miles/KWh (to compare - my Prius and other EV cars get about 3+ miles/KWh). So they get 2.5-4.5 miles from an hour under the Sun. So 20-40 miles during the time of commute and while parked at work.
So, yes, that Trump's idea he expressed in the interview to Musk back then to plaster cars with solar panels isn't totally meaningless, at least in theory - you can have 2-3x solar panels on regular car compare to Aptera, so it would have made sense for daily commute if that plastering of the cars cost close to nothing, and unfortunately putting such thing in production would add thousands to the car cost, and given that even Musk/Tesla with their pile of cash available to dump into engineering of such a new feature haven't yet ventured into it it suggests that at least near future isn't bright for it.
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dscottboggs
Yeah, 545 watts on an Arizona afternoon in that ugly spaceship-ass lookin thing is exactly what I picture when someone says "solar car". It'll extend your range by a tiny bit and look like shit in the process. I bet 545W doesn't even sustain it at highway speeds, let alone acceleration and deceleration that would be needed on a busy road etc (gee I wonder why they took "the road not travelled").
It's just not a good idea. Sure, put a panel on the roof of a car to power the accessories system and get a little bit back in your range, but if you go into it thinking you can drive a *real* car on the solar power that strikes the surface of the vehicle you're just gonna make yourself look silly.
I think Aptera's vision is fantastic. People are quick to judge the looks or three-wheelness of the car, but I think that's just a symptom of cars being marketed as status symbols nowadays.
I am worried about production. With all of the years it's taking them to get there, they can run out of money at any time it seems. It's unknown if they can raise enough money on their terms to get this thing to production.
I love these things. Sadly, it’s like an Elven artifact: a beautiful elegant thing, built for people who just aren’t quite like us. Us (the mass market, 99% of car buyers) are orcs. We look at a thing like this and can’t see the beauty or utility of being efficient and having a light footprint.
What's new here? College kids have been doing this since the 90s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Solar_Challenge
> Even on an overcast day, the team saw over 545 watts of solar input
Let’s (generously) assume that was the minimum they saw, and let’s (generously) say they charged for 14 hours. That’s 7.63 kWh gained over the day, in almost ideal conditions. Flagstaff’s high altitude means stronger sunlight, and they can do regenerative braking as they come down the mountain. In my Nissan leaf, 6 kWh would get me about 20 miles. If they are much more efficient, they maybe got 50 miles from the charging on that day, and the other 250 from the charge they started with.
I’d love to be wrong about any of the above! Solar panels on cars would be so cool! It just doesn’t seem useful. Please correct me if I’m mistaken.
I have always adored Aptera, but BYD and Tesla will always eat their lunch. I've been out to the factory in San Diego and driven Luna. It was awesome, but sadly I just don't think it will get funding. The government REALLY screwed them over, not once, but twice with the vehicle loan program. Really wonderful people and an amazing car.
I don't really get what Aptera are aiming for, but solar panels on electric vehicles are a good call in niches already (refrigerated trucks being a low hanging fruit, golf carts) and only set to grow from there.
A more effective design might be to tow a very thin and light 20 foot trailer of panels. That could work with any EV.
there was a German startup (Sono Sion) some years ago that had a very similar idea and had even prototypes [0], but they filed for insolvency 2-3 years ago. Now I think they pivoted to something more boring and practical - putting solar panels on vehicles. I hope aptera gets to production though
[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sono_Motors_Sion
Focusing on efficiency is a good idea, but why is it so big? It’s silly that it’s over 4m long.
300-545 watts. Aptera gets 8 miles/KWh (to compare - my Prius and other EV cars get about 3+ miles/KWh). So they get 2.5-4.5 miles from an hour under the Sun. So 20-40 miles during the time of commute and while parked at work.
So, yes, that Trump's idea he expressed in the interview to Musk back then to plaster cars with solar panels isn't totally meaningless, at least in theory - you can have 2-3x solar panels on regular car compare to Aptera, so it would have made sense for daily commute if that plastering of the cars cost close to nothing, and unfortunately putting such thing in production would add thousands to the car cost, and given that even Musk/Tesla with their pile of cash available to dump into engineering of such a new feature haven't yet ventured into it it suggests that at least near future isn't bright for it.
Yeah, 545 watts on an Arizona afternoon in that ugly spaceship-ass lookin thing is exactly what I picture when someone says "solar car". It'll extend your range by a tiny bit and look like shit in the process. I bet 545W doesn't even sustain it at highway speeds, let alone acceleration and deceleration that would be needed on a busy road etc (gee I wonder why they took "the road not travelled").
It's just not a good idea. Sure, put a panel on the roof of a car to power the accessories system and get a little bit back in your range, but if you go into it thinking you can drive a *real* car on the solar power that strikes the surface of the vehicle you're just gonna make yourself look silly.