The Aptera is not a gen 2 Prius. If Prius has a vaporware forum, it might be on topic there. If not EV (Electric Vehicle) Discussion | PriusChat
I think they are very interesting and would like a test drive. However, they will likely be classified as motorcycles in every state. Special licensing and helmets are not selling points.
Solar powered cars make VW vans look like dragsters! They have at most, what, 4 square meters of solar cells? 1 kW/m^2 X 25% efficiency (being generous) X 4 m^2 is 1kW of power. That's a whopping 1.34 hp, sustained, in full sun at midday. With some battery storage they can briefly output a couple of times that. Forget about driving anywhere at night. So it is an interesting toy, and it might suffice for getting around in a Sun City gated community, but it isn't a really a generally useful car. For extra points, if such a car had a 60 kWH battery how many days would it take to achieve a full charge?
I sincerely hope that you are mistaken about its potential usefulness. Their website says that the car can go up to 40 miles on one sunny day of solar charging and 700W panel. They’re in San Diego, and their map seems to say that 30 miles daily is achievable there. The full 40 miles seems to be for EV “hotbeds” like the Atacama desert, where I assume there is also little gasoline. Solar smoke and mirrors aside, it appears to be a fantastic example of what can be achieved by unconventional design. I hope they are more successful this time around.
