In a world where sedans have been replaced by SUVs, I don't see how the market would react positively to this. But then again, Lime scooters are paradoxically also a thing. I guess maybe it's a matter of marketing?
There are many cities in the US where renting a scooter to travel a couple miles is as fast as (often faster than) waiting for and riding in a car, and costs perhaps a third as much.
Electric scooters are a walking enhancer in an urban area. Now you can go 20kph in a city and easily park your vehicle. They're also super cheap to own and operate (or borrow one when needed). That's a totally different animal than a $40k subcompact trike car that requires an actual paid parking spot
Solar panel efficiency has increased and they have made an extremely slippery vehicle. 4kWh/day and 10 miles per kWh gives 40 miles per day of driving range, enough for many people without ever plugging in.
Is this so Aptera can pass the buck when it flops again (“it’s Launch’s fault, we swear”)?
This really doesn’t answer any questions. $44 million (and worthless paper stock warrants) is also immensely low for new vehicle tooling as a whole.
(I'll point out that an article about Slate's frugality[1] still shows some massive costs involved here. They scored a $200 million assembly line component originally from GM for $12 million. Uh, if that kind of seven/eight-figure investment is required for a single component of an assembly line, how far does this $44 million go for Aptera?)
On the "charging-from-the-sun" side of the equation, they recently had an independent German test organization measure the daily charge rate, and it exceeded the 4.0kWh/day goal. The test was conducted at their Southern California headquarters during July, however, so your mileage may (literally) vary.
I'd love if the roof and the hood of my plugin hybrid could have solar panels built in. I drive it very rarely and short distance. lf it could be topped up over few days, before next grocery or restaurant trip, I'd be delighted. I know there's not much energy to be gathered but it would suffice me. Instead I have glass roof for no reason, as if there was anything interesting straight up. Car manufacturers somewhat lost the plot.
Why though? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just have solar panels at your home where the power can be routed to batteries/ home power/ sell to the grid and configured optimally?
Not everyone has a garage or driveway. Where I live, I couldn't plug in at my house. I also don't need a car every day (in fact, right now we don't have one). Being able to charge on the street would reduce the need to find charging spots all the time.
From someone with a boat and solar panels: cheap solar panels needs cooling, so space between the panels and the stuff they are stuck one. This reduces aerodynamics a lot, which isn't an issue with something going 8 knots max, but I have a friend with a trimaran whose solar panels reduce his max speed of 20 knot to 18 (38kmh -> 33.5), which is why he decided to remove them from his amas and have movable solar panel instead (he put them when he beach or stay at a mooring). My next boat will be a tri too, I just have to find half a million somewhere.
> I'd love if the roof and the hood of my plugin hybrid could have solar panels built in. I drive it very rarely and short distance.
An old neighbor of mine had a Prius with a factory-installed small solar panel, definitely 50W or less, that IIRC was connected to the 12V battery. So one of the benefits would be in counteracting draw from various always-on computers in modern vehicles.
So dumb. Build bike lanes and use ebikes, many of which already go 30mph+. The only hurdle is a weatherproof cover which together with an ebike would be way cheaper than this.
I mean getting wet/hot is a pretty big disadvantage of e-bikes compared to cars in many situations. But anyway this is a crazy niche product. Don't worry it's not going to have any effect on e-bikes whatsoever.
> getting wet/hot is a pretty big disadvantage of e-bikes compared to cars
I use an ebike as primary transportation 365 days a year in Vermont, and you'd be surprised how infrequently you have a day that is actually miserable to be out on a bike, even in a place with very cold winters and a lot of rain. By dressing properly (gloves/scarf when it's cold, rain jacket if the weather is not cooperating), you can eliminate 95% of the annoyances. Something I've learned as a year round cyclist is that most of the rain you experience from inside a car is actually not that heavy when you're out in it. There are maybe 10 days a year where I just have to suck it up (below 0F, heavy rain), and then I usually just skip a trip, take the bus if I can, or deal with it. I get stuck biking in real rain maybe 3x a year, and tbh I think it's probably good for people to encounter occasional friction like that.
And so taking on all of the disadvantages of depreciation, insurance, traffic, inspections, parking, gas prices, parking bans, worrying if that car alarm in the middle of the night is mine, is actually a much worse deal to me than putting up with a few uncomfortable trips per year.
In Europe, the Fiat Topolino and his siblings are an increasingly common sight (while still being rare).
Relatively cheap, can be charged with a regular 230V socket, tops out at 45kmph. Not as compact as a bike for obvious reasons, but still a substantially smaller footprint than any modern car - and comes with proper weather protection.
My mum will buy one to work (home nurse) while keeping her big car around for larger travel. Especially with gas prices, I think you will see those more and more.
Batteries exist. Solar panels add weight and design constraints. Why is this a thing? What am I missing?
This really doesn’t answer any questions. $44 million (and worthless paper stock warrants) is also immensely low for new vehicle tooling as a whole.
(I'll point out that an article about Slate's frugality[1] still shows some massive costs involved here. They scored a $200 million assembly line component originally from GM for $12 million. Uh, if that kind of seven/eight-figure investment is required for a single component of an assembly line, how far does this $44 million go for Aptera?)
[1] https://www.autoline.tv/automotive-insight/slate-a-mastercla...
This finally answers questions that have hounded the company for years about their plan for scaling and fulfilling the thousands of reservations.
And now they won't to power the entire car with energy from solar cells on the car? I have my doubts.
To make it work when you live in a place where you park on the street and can't run wires to the car?
An old neighbor of mine had a Prius with a factory-installed small solar panel, definitely 50W or less, that IIRC was connected to the 12V battery. So one of the benefits would be in counteracting draw from various always-on computers in modern vehicles.
I use an ebike as primary transportation 365 days a year in Vermont, and you'd be surprised how infrequently you have a day that is actually miserable to be out on a bike, even in a place with very cold winters and a lot of rain. By dressing properly (gloves/scarf when it's cold, rain jacket if the weather is not cooperating), you can eliminate 95% of the annoyances. Something I've learned as a year round cyclist is that most of the rain you experience from inside a car is actually not that heavy when you're out in it. There are maybe 10 days a year where I just have to suck it up (below 0F, heavy rain), and then I usually just skip a trip, take the bus if I can, or deal with it. I get stuck biking in real rain maybe 3x a year, and tbh I think it's probably good for people to encounter occasional friction like that.
And so taking on all of the disadvantages of depreciation, insurance, traffic, inspections, parking, gas prices, parking bans, worrying if that car alarm in the middle of the night is mine, is actually a much worse deal to me than putting up with a few uncomfortable trips per year.
Relatively cheap, can be charged with a regular 230V socket, tops out at 45kmph. Not as compact as a bike for obvious reasons, but still a substantially smaller footprint than any modern car - and comes with proper weather protection.