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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 11 2025, @07:52PM
> in this climate batteries die in about four/five years if you don't baby them
I must baby them, I'm in western NY State with cars usually parked outdoors and it gets down around 0F a few times each winter. But, I don't drive every day, so that limits the number of engine starts. My car batteries normally last 10+ years, the record was 13 years--on a 1992 smaller car. That car was "manual", no key fob for the door locks, etc. When it was turned off there was no battery drain that I knew of.