Featured Aptera EV Update

My problem with Aptera is that I can get a 60kw bolt for $25k

The 60kw Aptera is almost $40,000 and no rebates

I love the efficiency of the car but am very loath on anything that isn’t in car lots ready to buy today

My ideal Aptera would be the 600 mile with camper option and minimal solar.
DCFC is a must despite it being rather rate

Now if they were delivering I would buy one.

 

It just doesn't look 25 cu.ft. to my eyeball, but plenty for how I'd use it.

The battery is in the nose, and extends under cabin as it is extended for the longer ranges. The motors are in the wheel hubs. There could be space under the cargo floor.

The 60kWh Aptera has at least twice the range of the Bolt though. The one of comparable range has a comparable price. It'd be cheaper if Aptera had the backing of company of GM's size. A Bolt can't do what you want from the ideal Aptera.

Also consider the Bolt has a back seat and meets stricter safety standards, the Aptera is a tough sell in comparison. It is the way I want to see personal vehicles go, which is why I'm considering getting a reservation.

The high efficiency means a slow DC charge rate will still have it competitive with faster rates on other cars in terms range added per hour. It'll charge faster than a Bolt. The slower rate should be easier on the battery. For my use, I don't need the fast DC. Just want the short range model. The only option might be the custom color. Being an autocycle, I'd like something more visible than in the grey spectrum.

 

the trouble with that is safety. long distance travel in a motorcycle rated vehicle is going to be dangerous for many operators

 

Haha!
Ya, I wouldn't want to drive 1,000 miles without stopping. I usually can't go for more than 2 hours without pulling over and at least stretching my legs.

I actually kind of liked driving around the Leaf with it's roughly 75 miles of usable range. Road trips were much more relaxing.

Of course the Aptera needs abou less than half the electricity to go the same distance as in a Bolt.

A 60kW DC fast charge on a Bolt adds almost 200 miles per hour of charging.

A 40kW DC fast charge on an Aptera would add nearly 400 miles per hour of charging.

Of course just driving is way more dangerous than taking an airplane.

Also where and how you drive will have a lot of an effect on how dangerous it is. I do a 1,200 mile round trip 3 or 4 times per year but take back roads where I hardly ever encounter much traffic. I also refuse to drive at night anymore.

 

yeah, no night driving for me, except local. i'd venture to guess most folks on long trips are on fairly busy highways, but idk.

 

Used to regularly see Honda Goldwings when making trips on the highway. Some were even towing a trailer.

 

lots of motorcycles on the highways. doesn't make them safe by any means

 

Oh I know, I considered a reservation as well but it’s a trick me once scenario.

And even though I agree with you on most point a 1lb brick of gold is no less valuable than a 1lb wing of it.

The Aptera is efficient and that is its only advantage, it’s half the car of the bolt in many other ways, winter included.

If I had one I would try to use it as a real car year round but at the end of the day it will always be a motorcycle and have many disadvantages to a normal car and as such should sell at a discount to a 4 wheel car.

Range is nice but when you scrap the car you can’t make money off range

 

Everyone's use case is different.

I'm interested in Aptera as a renter since I don't have any way of Level 2 charging at home, yet have always been interested in owning an EV (which is why we owned a Nissan Leaf for one year). Getting as many miles per hour off of 120V 15A electricity is important to me. Add solar to the roof and now we're talking.

Would I get an Aptera? Probably not any time soon, as a husband and father of a family of 4 we'd need more than one to move ourselves around. And so far we always have been a single car family. Plus 2 Apteras would need more than just 15A of 120V juice to charge both of them at the same time.

Although technically a motorcycle I don't see it having any more disadvantages than a Mazda Miata, other than it's going to be harder to miss potholes. Not very many motorcycles have HVAC systems, stereos and 25 cu. ft of cargo space.

 

If it was being done by an established, billion dollar company, it would be, though that isn't guaranteed.

The Bolt is priced as low as it is because because developmental costs for some universal components, like chassis and suspension, are shared with ICE models that are sold in the hundreds of thousands. There is also shared parts. For the EV specific parts, GM has the clout to get good pricing. Tesla wouldn't have been able to do a $25k car if they had started with that. They may not be able to do so now.

Aptera doesn't have the means of building a factory that could make tens of thousands of units a year. Their target goal is ten thousand. There is no economy of scale to make a cheap, entry level vehicle at that point. If Aptera had the funding to make that possible, they'd have skip the 3 wheels and gone to 4.

EV motorcycles that are highway capable, and a range of 100 or miles, are close to the Aptera in price. The Acrimoto FUV can be bought now in 14 states for $18k. It seats two, and can do 75mph. The optional 'trunk' can hold a couple bags of groceries. There is no doors, but the seats and grips are heated. The city range is 100 miles. It won't 30 miles at full speed. Fastest charging in Level 2, and it takes 4 hrs.
The Fun Utility Vehicle - Ultra Efficient Electric Vehicles

 

does it have full airbags? my '91 miata was actually rated as a very safe vehicle at the time.
spending a lot of time below the lug nuts of an 18wheeler was intimidating though

 

IMHO this is a science experiment like the XL1 and I doubt they will hit production and sales figures. I do want to see it in person. I imagine if they did this right it will accelerate and handle like a true sports car and will likely is a lot safer than a motorcycle. If they got the price down then they might be able to sell well in asia, but not at these prices.

The problem for aptera is that unlike when their initial design came out, battery prices have come down a lot. That makes the efficiency not as important as the cost for a bev. That design looks very expensive to produce. Still a boxter or cayman gts is around $100K and even though they will have bev versions before aptera gets volume, I think they and the tesla roadster will stay expensive.

Aptera Shares 2022 Year in Review - One Thing that Stood Out | Torque News

 

Curious. As an ex aptera early lineholder - Any pro apttra
Spot holders modernly that hold a new deelivery spot? Just thinking there's a lot of sis-boombah without anybody that actually has a dog in the fight.

.

 

Not here. My days of putting down cash to wait in line are done.
Although those events all ended well for me, I am content now to try products out, once they have reached the ‘for sale’ stage.

 

Trick me once shame on you

Trick me twice shame on me.

If I can’t walk down the street and buy one I must not need it.

That’s why i neither have a reservation for a Maverick, a Tesla (historically), a leaf (circa 2010/11), or the current Gen Aptera.

Per the rumor mill Ford has cancelled 75,000 Hybrid Maverick orders.

Even if I would have ordered on opening day 2021, being in Wisconsin it’s unlikely I would have gotten a hybrid delivery even by now.

 

To be fair, I don’t go quite that far.
If I can sit in, test drive and get the ‘feel’ for a car, I will happily put money down.
This is even if I can’t drive it off the lot at that moment.

My first new car was a Saturn. Test drove the model, liked it, ordered the exact one I wanted and got it in a week or so.
My MINI was ordered last March. After test driving the Model I wanted, I specified the options wanted. It was built, shipped, and delivered to the dealer in about 8 weeks.

I have no issue waiting for the car, but I want to know the car is being built and delivered

 

Not if:

1. You're concerned with using as little electricity as possible for environmental reasons. Sure, electricity is better than gasoline, but it's not 100% renewable yet. Every kWh you use you're adding x amount of CO2 into the atmosphere.
2. You want to be able to get the most miles per kWh off of, say, a regular outlet. One thing that prohibits apartment dwelers and renters in general from getting an EV is they usually don't have the option of Level 2 charging.
   • You get 2-3 miles per hour in a Tesla on 120V.
   • But you get over 13 miles per hour in an Aptera on 120V.
   That's as much as 150miles per night (or even more) off of a standard outlet in an Aptera. And that's not even including the extra range from the solar panels.
   
   Or you could apply the same reason to Level 2 and DC fast charging. You get more miles per hour sitting at a charger in an Aptera than anything else on the road (assuming the charging stations are outputting the same power to both the Aptera and the competition). Why wait for 150KW charging stations to start popping up when a 40KW charging station will add the same amount of miles-per-hour to your Aptera as whatever car is going to need 150KW charging?

 

A future where a sizable amount of commuters just can't afford 4-wheeled cars, yet still have some money to spend and need to drive.

...which is more a question of when than if. Maybe they've got the timing right this time around.

 

maybe if they are thinking 2050

 

Somebody's gonna have to earn money then, and from building the steps up to it.