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Aptera Solar Assisted Car - 20 Year Update

posted by hubie on Friday April 11 2025, @06:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the maybe dept.

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

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  • (Score: 2) by ledow on Sunday April 13 2025, @01:09PM (1 child)

    by ledow (5567) on Sunday April 13 2025, @01:09PM (#1400087) Homepage

    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.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 14 2025, @12:23AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 14 2025, @12:23AM (#1400136)

    > 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.