Aptera Motors has pushed its first street-ready prototype out of the cradle. Yes, it’s a tricycle, with a drive train à la Fisher Price PowerWheels, and a name that sounds like a one-year-old pointing out the cruise director on Love Boat, but the 2e might prove to be the car the Chevy electric/gas plug-in hybrid Volt and lithium-ion-powered Tesla long to be: the future.
Aptera itself is only a toddler, raised for the last three years by Google and others, now with a chance at the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize. The contest from the X Prize Foundation challenges teams to “design viable, clean and super-efficient cars that people want to buy.” To stake a claim, Aptera claims the 2e achieves the equivalent of 200 mpg and 100 miles on a charge. They hope to have cars in Southern Californian driveways before November.
“Everything is progressing nicely as we ramp up for full production of the 2e beginning in October,” says chief marketing officer Marques McCammon. “We’re still on target to build an ultra-efficient, high-mileage vehicle without sacrificing comfort and safety, and once Californians get behind the wheel this fall, we expect to change the world of commuter transportation.”
Well ahead of Chevy Volt’s debut, the 2e is supposed to hit the street between $25,000 and $45,000, halving or quartering a Tesla’s price. Not that it’s a fair comparison. Tesla wants the mantle of true sports car. Chevy wants respectability. The 2e wants to win. Hearts, minds and 10 million large. It’s got a shot, if you believe corporations, which I do. Not what they’re saying, mind you, but what they’re doing. Aptera seems to be quietly making a car like no other.
The difference between the 2e and the rest of the world can be seen in any slideshow from the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Eight companies lit up cars they say we’ll be plugging in come the next decade. They all look like cars. The 2e could have played Eva in Wall-E. The dove body with Cessna landing gear makes the Prius look like a brick.
The thing is so birdlike you can’t help but ask if it’s safe. Three-wheeled ATVs were outlawed because of the inherent instability. Aptera dumps a lot of answers on that question. First, they use composite materials for the exterior (“lighter than steel but three times as strong.”). They claim not one, but two elephants can stand on the 2e’s shell without hatching a mess. That shell wraps a Formula 1 style passenger cage and more airbags than a chop shop in Modesto.
All of which is great for the driver. For the car? It looks like an underwriter’s nightmare. The rear is one, big whale tail. The front wheels are on little spindles. The wonderfully sleek, nearly seamless body looks as though it could absorb a crash nicely with its totality. Resulting in a total. Eh, none of us want to drive Hummers anymore, right?
Lithium-ion batteries juice the 2e’s electric motor that, per company literature, urges the car from zero to 60 in less than 10 seconds, topping out at 90 mph. Even the guy in the Aveo laughs at you, but riding around for 100 miles on half a buck is a whole new kind of bragging right. Then you plug in. At a standard 110 volt outlet, you’re watching Lord of the Rings before you’re stuck in traffic again. All three disks.
At 55 mph, half a car’s energy is used to cut the air. With a coefficient of drag around 0.15, the 2e is a Ginsu. It’s only 1,700 pounds. Oh, and the tester has gull wing doors. Maybe they improve efficiency, maybe not, but they appear integral to the design. They might actually make it into the final product.
Aptera wanted a real car, though, so they stuck to their mandate of two people and two sets of golf clubs. The 2e is classified as a motorcycle by the California Department of Motor Vehicles. They had to call it something. Given the size of the C-pillars, I would’ve voted for panel truck.
Aptera says it’s taken 4,000 deposits for a car they promise will look and spec out really close to the prototype: front-wheel drive, solar powered climate control, do-it-yourself windows. Not what you’d call luxury but comfier than an Austin Healy, if that counts for anything.
It might. Industrial design is always about compromise. Aptera hasn’t created the fastest, biggest or softest EV concept, but they’re thinking about showrooms, while most others are thinking about shows. It’s too early to tell if 2e will grow up and become the future of the car. It certainly does look the part, though. We’ll check back around Halloween and see if it has anything more than a cool costume.
Classify this beastie as a donor-… err… motorcycle and you get around a whole bunch of pesky regulations required for passenger cars.
Useless rules like having to meet specific passenger protection crash tests and bumper performance tests. After all, Aptera drivers will never hit anything…
PR mumbo jumbo on safety is one thing. Meeting government regulations for a passenger car is quite another !
Also, keep in mind the issue with three-wheel ATV’s was with their stability… tipping over.
The folks at Aptiva are kinda ignoring the tipping/stability argument. They go into how strong their safety cage under that pretty bodywork is.. but no mention of its stability with three little low-resistance wheels.
I’d like to see this thing do an emergeny lane change at 100 km/hr.
Umm, it does have airbags: “That shell wraps a Formula 1 style passenger cage and more airbags than a chop shop in Modesto.”
And a cursory search of the web finds multiple references to stability control and a lower CG than an SUV.
3 wheel ATVs were unstable because of steering with one wheel versus 2. Honda currently is selling a motorcycle trike which is similar to this design, albeit a gas only vehicle.
The thing is repulsive ugly. Many drivers will be required to learn to drive it all over again. I can see them trying to park it at Home Depot.
Total eco nerds will line up to buy this thing, along with commuters who sit in traffic and don’t care about speed.
3 wheel atvs had one centerline front wheel. This has two front wheels widely spaced.
The former tends to tip over when turning while motoring forward. The latter tends not to tip over when turning in forward.
Think of stubborn mule, with front legs splayed out and dug in. Does not want to go your way. You cant pull him without lifting him right off his feet.
I would like it better with a small gas engine.
GS650
You type faster then me.
But I think its beautiful.
It does depart from horse and wagon derived modern car architecture.
And if you want it fast, refer back to its weight and drag. Drop a ‘busa motor in there and it would be a bullet, with suitable chassis upgrades etc.
650GS wrote:
Honda currently is selling a motorcycle trike which is similar to this design, albeit a gas only vehicle.
I think you may be thinking of the Can-Am Spyder…
http://spyder.brp.com/
…which is actually made by Bombardier.
I like it.
In a world where everything seems to look like a form of Prius or jellybean, this is well out of the norm.
If they can actually keep their prices in a reasonable range, they will definitely have something to offer the public.
Cars are starting to look so much alike, it’s refreshing to see something different. You’ll never confuse one of these with a Camry or an Accord.
I’d love to have one, save for two things.
I wonder how it would do here in the snow belt of Colorado in the winter?
The attention this thing would garner from other drivers I imagine, would make negotiating traffic a total pain in the ass, at least until they became dime a dozen common place sights on the road.
It certainly does not look big enough for a large size American to get into.
Aptera has put a lot of thought and attention on this. It’s a very uncompromising design, with the attendant limitations that go along with that.
Safety: stability isn’t a problem with this type of low-slung, two-wheel-out-front design. No, it won’t meet Fed crash standards, but it’s has been designed to have a very strong passenger cell. It’s not exactly a rolling coffin or donor-mobile.
The Aptera will appeal to the hard-core eco-ultra efficiency types. It’s really not a direct competitor to the mainstream EV’s that are on the way. I really worry about those very wide apart front wheels: either hitting something when parking, or some Tahoe driving over one of them.
But it is beautifully aerodynamic, and its efficiency is going to be right at the top of the heap.
One wheel drive in the snow??? VBG!
What part of my windshield hits the tail of that Aptera in an accident?
I’m very glad that they are reaching the streets!
Not glad enough to want one though…
Can I have a EV compact CAR? Thanks…
Still gotta have a backseat for a few more years…
The fact that these guys seem to spend a lot more time and effort on building a car than holding press conferences leads me to believe that they are sincere.
Avoiding the crash tests by being a motorcycle may be a smart idea. Those tests costs mucho dinero, and frankly, if you tell people it’s a bike, then no problem here.
I wish them good luck, and I can say I would give it a look at 25k, but not 45k.
I would also say that a smart insurance company would make a deal for an exclusive. Composite repair costs took only a few years to come down by a factor of 10 in aviation. Once the guy on the corner learns how to do it, it’s less costly than working with metal.
Acknowledging that a pair of eyes looking at a picture are no substitute for a wind tunnel, i still cannot help thinking that the shape is … hmmm … wrong. It looks like a 1960’s NASA lifting body, and it would most likely behave like one in a crosswind.
Ok, it has heavy batteries to tie it down to the road, but if you do carry these batteries, please put them closer to the ground.
I bet the designer’s brief read something like “an organic, avant garde shape that will appeal to trend setters …” with little engineering input.
Aptera has spent a lot of time and money on design and engineering. They won a (small) grant from Google against stiff competition, and have also won venture money (a lot). More likeable than Tesla in their corporate spirit, Aptera has worked hard to get to where they are.
I think their design is too funky. It’s not something I would buy, at least. Still, Aptera does have 4,000 potential customers who put down a $500 deposit to reserve their spot. Not a whole lot of money. But it does say something.
(Deposits are put in escrow and are fully refundable, unless you “lock in” your spot, in which case the $500 gets you $750 off the final price.)
Looks very interesting to me. May well be a car of the future that’s not too far away. I like the styling. Their website says pricing from the $20k’s-$40k’s dependent upon drivetrain which seems to me to be an overly hefty differential. I would look at it in the mid $20k’s but not the higher price range. It will be interesting to see if this vehicle is produced and sold nationally.
There’s another 3 wheeled high-efficiency car that’s supposed to be going into production soon, the EMC3.
As people have said, three wheelers are entirely stable if two are up front. The old T-Rex is still higher than most supercars in terms of grip:
http://www.campagnamotors.com/T-REX/intro.html
I would never get a Prius or a Tesla, but I actually like this Aptera. I think it’s cool that they didn’t “slim down a rectangle,” as they put it, but actually built up the car from just the necessary elements. I think the airplane-like feel will be kind of need. Of course, I don’t really commute, I don’t have a proper garage to plug it in, and I’d rather spend $40K on a used Viper GTS or a new Miata, but hey – I still think this is cool.
The EMC3 is interesting as well. Doesn’t seem to be nearly as technologically advanced as the Aptera which would explain the $13,995 base price. I would spend another $10-$12k on the Aptera.
It’s an interesting design and I admire Aptera, but I expect a parking lot fender bender would awfully pricey.
I want mine to have a little propellor out back.
The more I look at this, the more it looks like an airplane without the propeller on front and the wings on top. I can understand why that is, and getting an airplane-like coefficient of drag makes sense. Still, I would never buy one.
I actually don’t mind the way it looks. However, I am also into planes which I was cracked about wanting a propeller. I wander, does the rolling resistance saved by having only three wheels not four make a meaningful contribution to economy? I’d tend to think so…
Piston heads can always buy a T-Rex or a V13R. http://www.campagnamotors.com/
So many folks want a lighter vehicle, well, here it is. I am also into planes. And I suspect that it was very much inspired by the many new LSA plane designs, and wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were some roadable aircraft DNA in there.
I guess if we are going to allow motorcycles on the road there’s really no legitimate reason to deny anything else with signal lights on it. I don’t get why these things have to be so expensive though. Maybe mass production will knock the price down a few notches.
NickR, you are right. Aptera said that they have three wheels instead of four mainly to cut down on rolling resistance. But also to save weight and cost.
I think the car looks great. I love their pursuit of ultimate efficiency… this design would work well with a small gasoline engine, plug in hybrid, or flux capacitor.
One other advantage to classification as a motorcycle, I imagine, is instant access to HOV lanes with one passenger withought the need for special stickers as permitted for all motorcycles in CA.
I do wonder, however, if there is an exception to California’s helmet law for this. As far as I know (as a licensed rider) there is no exception for three-wheeled motorcycles or bikes with sidecars. The DMV website doesn’t indicate any exception. Seriously, I highly doubt anyone would actually get ticketed for not wearing a helmet while driving one, but it might be awkward.
I like the mileage graph on the Aptera site. It appears to be a very straight forward way to illustrate the mileage of hybrids like the Aptera and Volt.
The article states the Aptera is front wheel drive but it is driven by the rear wheel.
From Aptera’s web site, in California it is considered a motorcycle because of the 3 wheels but because the cabin is enclosed, no helmet is required. Best of both worlds. I think it’s a very cool design.
Ah, this thing is awesome. I’d never buy one because I have drums to haul and it doesn’t fit my needs, but it’s cool nevertheless.
It’s considered a motorcycle, but Aptera Motors claims that if it were a car, it’d pass safety regulations. I’m guessing what that means is that the car would be totaled upon any significant impact, but the cage is strong enough that you’d live through it.
This article is leaving a detail out… There are actually 2 Aptera 2 series vehicles, the 2e electric (as mentioned) and the 2h plug-in hybrid. It isn’t on their website at all, but they have talked about it before. It will have somewhere around a 5 gallon tank and have a range of about 600 miles.
“rdeiriar
Acknowledging that a pair of eyes looking at a picture are no substitute for a wind tunnel, i still cannot help thinking that the shape is … hmmm … wrong. It looks like a 1960’s NASA lifting body, and it would most likely behave like one in a crosswind.
…
I bet the designer’s brief read something like “an organic, avant garde shape that will appeal to trend setters …” with little engineering input.
”
Well, your eyes have led you completely astray. That is a body shape that was developed (from memory) in the 60s by VW as the most aerodynamic shape to accomodate two sitting humans in a car-like form. Check out Hucho, Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles.
Not that it’s a fair comparison. Tesla wants the mantle of true sports car. Chevy wants respectability. The 2e wants to win. Hearts, minds and 10 million large.
Not sure there are many people that want to drive around in a 2-seat golf cart. Maybe the technology is cool, but it’ll be used in a giant SUV before you know it….
First off, neat to see this vehicle getting some coverage over at TTAC! As a longstanding member over at the Aptera Forum (http://www.apteraforum.com), I thought I’d correct some misconceptions and add additional information. First, to the original article:
“Well ahead of Chevy Volt’s debut, the 2e is supposed to hit the street between $25,000 and $45,000, halving or quartering a Tesla’s price”
The price of the 2e is to depend on what options you get, and the range they’ve been saying most recently is $25-$40k. On the downside, they have had to delay production once; when their new CEO took over, he held production back in order to make sure that the quality of the first models sold isn’t subpar.
“The thing is so birdlike you can’t help but ask if it’s safe. Three-wheeled ATVs were outlawed because of the inherent instability.”
Three-wheeled ATVs are narrow-track, high-CG “Delta” trikes. The Aptera is a wide-track, low-CG “Tadpole” trike. It’s fundamentally different, and every bit as stable as a car. Don’t take my word for it; take Road and Track’s testing.
According to Marques McCammon, the 2e has the braking distance of a Mustang GT and the cornering radius of a Porsche Boxter. They’ve posted videos on YouTube of them racing it around curves.
They claim not one, but two elephants can stand on the 2e’s shell without hatching a mess.
Indeed, one of Aptera’s favorite showoffs is to invite people to try to win $100 if they can damage the shell with a sledgehammer. They now warn people to be careful of the rebound after one reporter nearly knocked his teeth out trying. Nobody yet has succeeded. There’s a great picture out there of about 20 people standing on top of an Aptera shell at once.
Lithium-ion batteries juice the 2e’s electric motor that, per company literature, urges the car from zero to 60 in less than 10 seconds, topping out at 90 mph.
The official statement is “under 10 seconds”, but they just nearly doubled the official torque numbers, and according to Marques McCammon, the version they were showing at TED does slightly under 8 seconds.
but riding around for 100 miles on half a buck is a whole new kind of bragging right.
One of the more exciting recent developments is that Aptera has started mentioning nearly double the battery pack capacity, and one recent article stated the range is now 200 miles. We’re still waiting for confirmation on that, however.
Maybe they improve efficiency, maybe not, but they appear integral to the design.
It’s for several reasons. They found that they can save weight and improve strength by hinging them at the A-pillar. It also allows the already fairly wide car to have a narrower profile with its doors open. And yeah, it just looks cool. ;)
On to user comments:
Useless rules like having to meet specific passenger protection crash tests and bumper performance tests. After all, Aptera drivers will never hit anything.
Aptera is actually voluntarily doing both physical and simulated crash tests, just like they’ve voluntarily added driver and passenger front airbags, and side head and chest airbags. The simulated crash tests have been ongoing since day 1, using the same software BMW uses in their design process.
Yes, three wheels does offer some regulatory advantages — paperwork, emissions, etc. In terms of safety regulation, for example, it lets them do what they think is most important in terms of safety, rather than, say, having bumper requirements that I think pretty much everyone here knows are a farce (ever hit a high pickup with a midsize sedan? That trailer hitch goes through the hood like a knife through butter. It’s happened to me.) But it also offers a host of other advantages. It reduces weight — one less tire, wheel, shaft, set of brakes, and so on down the line. The corresponding fewer parts reduce both purchase price and maintenance. Keeping the tire down the center helps with streamlining, moving the car toward the more optimal “teardrop” shape. The reduced weight and improved aerodynamics mean a smaller battery pack, which in turn means even further reduced purchase price, faster charging, and lower environmental impact.
So there are many reasons for the design.
I would like it better with a small gas engine.
You’re in luck. In addition to the 2h “plug-in hybrid”, which they already have orders for, they’re also making a “2g” gas-only version. It sounds like it’s either going to be the second or third version released.
I wonder how it would do here in the snow belt of Colorado in the winter?
It’s FWD with the weight over the drive wheels, traction control, and a short braking distance. What more could you want? :) The only downsides I can think of are you’d probably want to change out the default tires (Potenza RE92s) and that the center rear wheel will track down the middle of the lane, where the snow isn’t as compacted. However, that wheel is mainly just to keep the rear from scraping along the ground; it doesn’t steer or provide power or anything.
It certainly does not look big enough for a large size American to get into.
You’d be surprised. The doors in the current version are a little work to maneuver through, but once inside, it’s plenty roomy. There’s also a huge cargo area in the back. They’re working on making the doors open wider before they start producing this October.
Once the guy on the corner learns how to do it, it’s less costly than working with metal.
Quite true. My 6th generation quilter mother-in-law can fix composites (she used to work at a place that built hovercraft).
It looks like a 1960’s NASA lifting body, and it would most likely behave like one in a crosswind.
At the same time, the “wing” shape is angled downward. The net result is no up or downforce.
Ok, it has heavy batteries to tie it down to the road, but if you do carry these batteries, please put them closer to the ground.
They’re under the seats.
I do wonder, however, if there is an exception to California’s helmet law for this.
There is. And you don’t need a motorcycle license. Over on the Aptera Forum, we’ve verified this by looking through the California code.
The article states the Aptera is front wheel drive but it is driven by the rear wheel.
That was the Mk0 and Mk1 models. They moved to FWD because it provides numerous benefits — better grip, less maintenance, better handling, better regen, etc.
I’d never buy one because I have drums to haul and it doesn’t fit my needs, but it’s cool nevertheless.
The Mk1 model had almost 16 cubic feet of “trunk” space, and if anything, the latest versions have more. It can haul 7′ surfboards, multiple golf bags, 15 bags of groceries, etc.
The “trunk” space isn’t very tall, and it’s only average width, but it’s quite long.
Maybe the technology is cool, but it’ll be used in a giant SUV before you know it….
Well, Aptera is working on a 4-series model, to come after the 2-series. Not a giant SUV, but bigger.
As for other automakers, it seems inevitable that they’re going to move in that direction ultimately (they’ll have to, to some degree, because of CAFE at the very least). But switching their lines from steel to composite or whatnot, that’s not something that’s going to happen overnight.
If anyone has any further questions, feel free to ask over at the Aptera Forum.