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Some may remember the initial press on the Aptera streamlined solar-assisted BEV...that was 2005. For some reason, looking at the aircraft-like shape again reminded me of the Buffalo Springfield / Neil Young song, "If flying on the ground is wrong..."
After one bankruptcy, resurrection and continued development, the company is still going. Here's a recent release including video of a road trip, which claimed about 20 miles of solar charging during the part-cloudy day, https://www.automotivetestingtechnologyinternational.com/news/prototypes/apteras-test-vehicle-completes-solar-supported-road-trip.html
No obvious drama in driving it, but it was all highway and rural 2 lane. No city traffic.
It's exactly the sort of thing I'd like, but the company history is pretty sketchy. I'm typically not an early adopter and looking from here I doubt that the company will ever be well enough established to risk buying one.
Overview of the company here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptera_Motors
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ledow on Friday April 11 2025, @11:57AM (4 children)
There's just not enough surface area on a moving vehicle to make this work.
You think range-anxiety is a thing in BEV? Wait until you're dependent on it not being cloudy, and only ever working in certain latitudes anyway.
This is one of those niche ideas that's largely dumb except for a few small specialist tasks. Hey, it could run you around Disneyland as a gimmick, sure.
But everyone with a brain would buy a BEV without charging and then just put solar on their house if they wanted to. The "extra" 20 miles of range isn't worth the effort, especially given the compromises you have to make to make it work.
This thing is the Sinclair C5 of the modern age.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 11 2025, @02:25PM (2 children)
> There's just not enough surface area on a moving vehicle to make this work.
Perhaps true for your use case.
My case must be different, I work from home, no commute, and don't use my car every day--but I'm in the 'burbs and need a car to move things around (would not easily switch to Uber or public transit). The extra 10 or 20 miles of range added per day by the solar on the Aptera would meet all my local needs, which include a 50 mile round trip every couple of weeks (other trips for shopping, etc are very short). For the half dozen long road trips that I do every year I'd still use a gas/petrol car where fuel is quickly available just about everywhere in USA, including all sorts of rural areas.
(Score: 2) by ledow on Sunday April 13 2025, @01:09PM (1 child)
Put more panels on your house instead, you'll never need to charge your car ever again, and you can have a 350+ mile range every morning. And you can drive a normal size car without compromises.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 14 2025, @12:23AM
> Put more panels on your house instead,
All very well if you own a house, but in USA about 1/3 of the families rent. Another fraction may own a condo, but the HOA will not allow mods to the outside of the house.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Friday April 11 2025, @03:07PM
That's a deep burn. True, though.