What would it be like to drive a car that everyone stared at? Will people buy a vehicle that looks more avian than automotive? Will people accept a truly unconventional vehicle in order to reap the personal and contribute to the global benefits of extraordinarily high fuel economy and ultralow emissions?
Aptera thinks that there are enough buyers out there willing to accept the stares and the benefits of their Typ-1 all-electric or plug-in hybrid three wheeled car. They may be right. So far they’ve taken more than 400, $500 deposits for a car that has been driven by few and has yet to go into production. And that’s only in California. The company’s wingless bird could fly in the rest of the world just as well.
What would it be like to drive a car that everyone stared at? Will people buy a vehicle that looks more avian than automotive? Will people accept a truly unconventional vehicle in order to reap the personal and contribute to the global benefits of extraordinarily high fuel economy and ultralow emissions?
Aptera thinks that there are enough buyers out there willing to accept the stares and the benefits of their Typ-1 all-electric or plug-in hybrid three wheeled car. They may be right. So far they’ve taken more than 400, $500 deposits for a car that has been driven by few and has yet to go into production. And that’s only in California. The company’s wingless bird could fly in the rest of the world just as well.
Aptera is Greek for “Wingless Flight.”
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Face it. We don’t need cars that get 40 miles per gallon on petrol, we need cars that get well over 100 miles - the higher over 100 the better. The growth in the number of cars worldwide will quickly swamp any gains emissions reductions made by a fleet of 35-40 mpg cars. What’s needed is dramatic improvements in efficiency and a change in fuels. What’s needed is a complete rethink, a radical reinvention of the automobile.
While car manufacturers have been focusing on what’s under the hood, they’ve paid little attention to the hood itself and every body panel that surrounds it. With the exception of a few low production cars and prototypes, green vehicle designers and engineers have largely ignored body structure and aerodynamics in achieving high fuel economy.
The body seems to be where Aptera began its radical automotive rethink. The company designed the most aerodynamic shape that would fit around two people sitting side by side. Then it eliminated the redundant fourth wheel for even better aerodynamics. Mechanical simplicity was an added benefit of going to a three-wheeled design. Then the company molded the smooth but complex shape in lightweight composites.
From a design and construction aspect the Typ-1 has a closer kinship to many new light aircraft than anything else on the road.
Safety wasn’t ignored, either. Driver and two passengers - in two plus one seating - are surrounded by an energy-absorbing and impact-deflecting passenger safety cell made of steel and composites. And like most new cars, driver and passenger side airbags are also installed.
The company says the all-electric version will have a range of 120 miles. The plug-in hybrid version has achieved more than 300 miles per gallon with a range of more than 600 miles on a tankful of gasoline.
The Typ-1 will sell for under $30,000 in either battery electric or plug-in hybrid version - a surprisingly low cost for a low production vehicle.
The company will keep the first cars close to home and sell them only to California residents. But the company does plan nationwide expansion. The Typ-1 will be considered a motorcycle under California law. Thus drivers will be able to drive in carpool lanes even with only one person aboard.
Certainly different. Certainly a head turner. But, you know, the automotive world needs a shake up. It needs to break conventional automotive design rules and begin - quickly - to offer vehicles with fuel economy and emissions reductions leaps and bounds ahead of what’s available now.
