This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
A few things the cynics are missing.
Been following this company’s development for over a decade now. I really want them to succeed but I have major doubts.
Something I find incredibly weird about US company culture is how they talk about overtime like it's a good thing.
"Our employees worked weekends, days and nights to make this happen! We wouldn't have succeeded without people who are willing to give up their personal lives!"
I hope they not only succeed but get shares. Doing weekends or nights for a company you don't (partially) own feels like a con.
Find people who care about what they're working on and they'll go well beyond the extra mile. As an extra motivator, make it clear the company won't be around if they don't succeed. I'm sure these employees have shares, but tha only really matters if the company succeeds (extra motivation!). Unfortunately, there have been a ton of green/green-adjacent automotive "startups" that have struggled to gain a foothold. See also:
(I'm sure many others)
Here are a few other interesting green automotive startups that didn't make it:
Fisker is nothing but a conman, always has been. His MO is literally to start a company, secure funding, make a personal fortune and then abandon the bankrupt shell and leave customers hanging.
Nothing says product quality like overworked employees
The future of transportation everybody: a car.
that is not a car. It is a Reliant Robin meets the BORG
The Aptera has been promised for over a decade now. I'm somehow amazed they are still trying.
There's something that people really fail to grasp with solar, and that's the fact there is bugger all energy in the sun, and you need a huge surface area to get any meaningful energy.
A home solar array often takes up a significant chunk of the roof area, and the amount of surface area a car typically has means that even perfectly efficient solar panels wouldn't collect enough energy to significantly contribute to the vehicle's range.
There's a good reason why vehicle manufacturers don't bother adding them.
Their tech isn't just the solar, they've optimized the car solely for efficiency. They claim their car can get 10 mi/kwh, so with 700W of solar panels they can get up to 40 miles of charge per day with just the solar. By contrast, the solar panels that are available on the new Prius get 4 miles of charge per day.
Now that their production-intent vehicles are just starting to be built up, I'm eagerly awaiting their actual test data that hopefully verifies their claims on efficiency, range, crash safety, etc. but we'll see 🤞 I really hope they succeed.
Yes, the aerodynamics + solar panels is what makes this vehicle enticing, not just the solar panels alone.
Yes, but with a light and efficient vehicle, along with enough area covered in solar, it should be able to get you about 15 miles of free travel when left out on a sunny day. It has a battery. It isn't just running on sunshine and lollipops.
There is good amount of energy in the sunshine. The output of solar arrays struggle to make big power out of small surface areas because we haven't figured out how to get more than 20% of the power that hits the panel. If they do get 20% or more, it's been with very expensive and fragile panels.
Solar panels are also added weight, which reduces range. Any way you look at it, it makes more sense to have the solar panels at a base location you go back to.
I guess an RV, or a camp trailer, makes sense to have panels on it, but that's about it
Lots of people here criticizing Aptera who clearly haven't researched the company or the tech.
Good, now keep the momentum up, Aptera. You're so close to the reality.
It’s also a bit strange to see a production-intent build of a solar electric vehicle without any solar panels. Still, Aptera shared that technology will be implemented next alongside the SEV’s production-intent thermal management system and exterior surfaces.
This thing is pure vaporware. My new Leaf isn't.
No one is trying to take away your Leaf, though.
Let them push the envelope. Failing is a required pavestone on the road to almost every success story.
Im not saying it isn't, but fitting custom curved prob special solar panels on a test vehicle does not sound cost efficient, especially when you can test the solar panels separately perfectly fine.
Cars are complex to construct properly even without drivetrains, plenty to test there.
True, but my understanding is the amount of solar energy that hits an area the size of a car multiplies by the max possible solar energy conversion is still far below what's needed to power a car. Sure, you can continue to charge it while parked, which is cool. However, you could also put cheaper non-custom panels on a building and then plug your non-solar electric car into it to charge while parked, and the building panels will have significantly better solar exposure and be cheaper per panel.
If your goal is making something effective that reduces carbon output, an EV and solar on a building is much better. If you're creating junk to get VC funding, this is what it looks like. If this comes to market at all, it's not going to make any waves, except maybe for how impractical it is.
Solar panels aren't worth it for a normal EV, but supposedly the Aptera is so small, lightweight, and aerodynamic (with that teardrop shape) that they actually add a significant amount of range.
You're taking for granted the fact that many people don't have the luxury of modifying their house/condo/apartment to install and maintain solar panels. Nor is it guaranteed that they have a garage/driveway to charge their car. With the Aptera, you wouldn't have to deal with the hassle or inability to install solar panels because you would be able to passively charge it anywhere it's sunny (i.e. while driving as well). So I disagree that this is just an objectively worse option than charging with rooftop solar, especially because of how competitively priced the Aptera will be compared to standard EVs.
The car is efficient enough for it to do something (20-30 miles a day in summer if I remember), but yes it’s mostly marketing and they say as much. “Solar electric car” sounds a lot better than “this car is pretty normal but it’s super efficient”
I could see a market for a small electric camper van (Like actual small van sized like the old VW vans) with a solar roof. For regular camping you would always have electric to charge your phone and if you wanted to tour around a bit you could probably stay at each location for 2/3 days and gain enough charge to make it to the next one (at least in summer)
Oh, I agree with you there (well, not in the tech itself, why not both, have panels on buildings and on some cars – plenty of people drive only a few thousands of kilometres/miles per year & still need a car).
I'm just saying that as engineer I would start testing them separately, in lab conditions first to get the basics & correct obvious initial faults, then separately outside.
As management I however would insist that engineer has to find a way to glue whatever solar panels they can find to the prototype if there is gonna be a press release.
I didn't read much what they are doing/going for tho, so can't say much about that.
