August 2nd, 2009
Aptera Electric Cars Showing Peek at Interiors
Stumble it!
For those of you who follow our blog, you know we’re big fans of what the folks at Aptera are up to. Aptera is building an all-electric, three-wheeled car that has a small fraction as much aerodynamic drag as a Prius. The Aptera 2e goes 100-120 miles with a top speed of 85-90mph, and boasts normal car safety features and impressive crash test results. And it looks like a super cool Jetson mobile, which makes it especially exciting.
Now the folks at Aptera are starting to reveal what the inside of their space-age auto will look like. You can see a sample below and here is what Aptera has to say about their design developments:
“The first major issue was space. We tested men and women of every age and stature and found, in many cases, we were not offering enough room in the cabin. With that information, we enhanced the cabin using our Aptera formula — safety, then aerodynamics, then lightweight. The new interior cabin is now roughly 10% larger by every measure.
“The new 2 series also now has headroom and legroom comparable to, if not better than, the Mini and Chevy Volt. We widened the area at the hips to provide more space than the Smart EV and the Nissan Cube. Then to top it off, we increased our cargo capacity by more than 24 cubic feet, which is nearly two times the space available in the Honda Accord.”
Alright, let’s get that thing into market and start driving it! We’re ready!
You can learn more about Aptera here. Images courtesy of Aptera.
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January 11th, 2009
Aptera Electric Car Available in “Volume” by October 2009
Written by Karen Pease, courtesy of Gas2.org
For those who haven’t heard of it, the Aptera 2e is the first vehicle from Aptera Motors, a Carlsbad startup with funding from Idealab, Google, and other sources. (Also for those who hadn’t heard of it: it’ll look great in your cave.)
The all-electric, three-wheeled 2e weighs in at around 1,500 pounds due to high-strength composite construction, has a small fraction as much aerodynamic drag as a Prius, goes 100-120 miles with a top speed of 85-90mph, and boasts normal car safety features, impressive crush test results, and crash testing (TBA).
With a price ranging from the mid $20s to the mid $40s (depending on options), Aptera is aiming to produce 10,000 a year in 2010 and 100,000 by 2015, including a subsequent four-wheel, four-seater code-named Palomar.
Now, they’ve announced what many have been long awaiting: a basic production schedule.
As Aptera has neared production, the details have been coming in fast and furious. Aptera officially announced what many had been suspecting for a long period of time — the production version is front-wheel drive. Founder Steve Fambro also stated in an interview that there will be an optional fast charger to charge it in 2-3 hours.
On Tuesday, those on the Aptera waiting list received a letter including some news:
“Our most recent corporate commitment was that we would deliver the first production Typ-1, now known as the 2e, by the close of 2008. Despite our well-intentioned efforts, we were unable to complete that vehicle before the close of the year, so it’s now slated for January 16. However, unlike prior plans, this vehicle will not be delivered to a retail customer. We will continue our builds but at a much slower rate starting with a small test fleet of the enhanced vehicles, then moving to our volume production launch on October 1, 2009.”
To put the delay into perspective, Aptera’s original production goal to deliver in late 2008 was set over a year ago, so a shortfall of a couple weeks isn’t bad. The wording is unclear as to whether all unit production will go toward the test fleet or whether unit production will commence for customers before mass production commences, but it is clear that the launch date for mass production will be this fall. Aptera goes on to explain that the delay and the use of a test fleet before full production was due to changes brought about due to customer expectations of ease of use and the advice of automotive professionals in Aptera’s ever-growing staff.
The other main piece of news is a “lock-in” proposal. As they near production Aptera says, “it has become equally important for Aptera to properly model our operations to meet demand.” As a consequence, they’re giving depositors an option: keep your $500 reservation refundable, as it always was, or change it to be non-refundable (but still escrowed) and get a $250 discount when you make your purchase. They note that they’re moving toward production “in the face of this challenged economy,” and having more firm commitments will help them with forecasting demand — a model that, they hope, “maybe Wall Street will see … as a role model for offering these types of returns on investments.”
Aptera concludes with their pledge:
“We will manufacture the most efficient vehicle on the road and continue to apply the input we receive from our consumer.” As we fly in the face of this challenged economy and write a new page in transportation history, we simply can’t afford to cut corners. We are going to do what it takes to get it right, and we cannot get there without your help and continued support. You have stood with us faithfully and we promise that our vehicles will be worth the wait.”
“We look forward to sharing our dream with you as Aptera introduces the world to the most energy efficient solution for personal mobility.”
Image credit: Aptera Motors
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