After writing yesterday’s post I happened across a news article about the Aptera moving closer to production. What’s the Aptera? It’s a car, but not just any car:
The Aptera Typ-1 will be the most efficient passenger vehicle in the world. The first production models are planned to be available in December 2008 with the production rate increasing throughout 2009. With a coefficient of drag literally one-third of a subcompact car and less than half the weight, the all-electric version will get up to 120 miles per charge, while the hybrid version, which will follow in about 12 months, will achieve close to 300 MPG.
So it’s a press release and thus you might wonder just how much of this is hot air. Not much, as far as I can tell. It has a large pool in investors including Google, and the company is taking pre-orders already.
This particular type of vehicle is a little wonky looking, but manages to retain a little sportiness nonetheless. More important than that is the engine. It’s an electric vehicle with a small gasoline engine to fill in when the batteries get low. This overcomes one of the biggest objections to electric cars, which is that they’re fine for driving around town but will leave you stranded if you ever have to drive across the state. The full hybrid Aptera is supposed to have a range of 600+ miles with an average efficiency of a staggering 130 MPG. For $20,000 it’s a pretty tempting deal.
With the Tesla Roadster already in production and the major manufacturers designing their own electric vehicles, the move to actual no-kidding energy independence might finally be taking its first steps.
4 responses so far ↓
1 CCPhysicist // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:27 am
Just a LITTLE wonky? Ya gotta love using + and - signs on the accelerator and brake pedals. Random thoughts:
1) It looks like a 60s vision of the future, and the girl in the houndstooth-like pattern dress only enhances that image.
2) I’d like to see Chad get into it.
3) Three wheel vehicles are notoriously unsafe at many speeds. People who can’t be trusted to drive an SUV without rolling it when they drift onto a freeway shoulder will make this an interesting insurance risk. I can’t recommend buying a vehicle that is intrinsically unsafe on an autocross course.
4) As someone who has driven a Honda Insight for thousands of freeway miles, I am of the opinion that having a really unique looking vehicle increases visibility on the road, which increases safety compared to nondescript small cars.
5) I would like to see the NHTSA crash test results, and then see what happens when the IIHS ups the ante. I notice that the road car does not have a regular US license plate on it. Does anyone recognize that one?
6) Ever see a Messerschmidt?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_KR175
A video shows a driver getting one up on 2 wheels without using a ramp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InlFaERcPeA
Or a Peel P50?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07ub5rBdrE4
Watch how the Peel corners on the street.
The wheelbase, width, and height of this new car will reduce, but not eliminate, this behavior since basic physics (location of the CG relative to the tires) makes 4 wheels safer than 3.
2 Rarus.vir // Aug 1, 2008 at 1:09 pm
The windows don’t open. I think I’ll get one next year.
3 Leni // Aug 3, 2008 at 8:13 pm
LOL. That Peel video was hilarious. It’s too bad they sound more like weed whackers than they do like the Jetson’s mobiles.
I didn’t actually see it corner, but it looked pretty wobbly just cruising along. I’d probably feel safer on a moped :)
Welcome to ScienceBlogs Matt!
4 Coy Brooks // Nov 12, 2008 at 11:17 pm
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