41–50 of 57 posts
There’s a Chinese EV called the Solarky that has 600w of panels on it (300w with another 300w that slides out when stationary), which can collect about 50km of range a day, and sells right now for around $10k around Asia. More info here: https://youtu.be/Hk6aTKV-des
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It kinda has been to some degree. The first corporation went bankrupt in 2011. Hopefully they'll build/deliver some consumer vehicles this time. There's also been plenty of vaporware from existing manufacturers, and the majority of what they've built have been more compliance vehicles than serious, no compromise, mass production EVs, so seeing that approach refreshing.
> The first corporation went bankrupt in 2011. The VCs forced the founders out, tried to move production to china, then iirc banked on a sketchy deal where best buy was trying to get into the ev sales market out of tesla fomo (but a best buy is not where you find an aptera adopter)
I fell in love with the Aptera back during the Automotive X Prize era. Back then batteries were expensive enough that a vehicle that got decent range by being ultra-efficient was rather attractive. I also loved the unconventional look. Much harder to justify in a world with normal car EVs with decent range at fairly normal car prices. There are a fair number of choices below their $40K target price. I still hope they…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It kinda has been to some degree. The first corporation went bankrupt in 2011. Hopefully they'll build/deliver some consumer vehicles this time. There's also been plenty of vaporware from existing manufacturers, and the majority of what they've built have been more compliance vehicles than serious, no compromise, mass production EVs, so seeing that approach refreshing.
> The first corporation went bankrupt in 2011. The VCs forced the founders out, tried to move production to china, then iirc banked on a sketchy deal where best buy was trying to get into the ev sales market out of tesla fomo (but a best buy is not where you find an aptera adopter)
There’s a Chinese EV called the Solarky that has 600w of panels on it (300w with another 300w that slides out when stationary), which can collect about 50km of range a day, and sells right now for around $10k around Asia. More info here: https://youtu.be/Hk6aTKV-des
This is a much more interesting concept than Aptera. Small and affordable car, expandable solar array. Keep it simple.
Is that legit? That looks like vaporware scam to be honest Edit: the fact the official aptera website has a banner at the top with their stock ticker is very suspicious, I assume it was a spac that didn’t go well? Edit 2: actually, not a spac, direct listing as a public benefit corporation. They seem to have a very messy and complicated history with a lot of over promises and no delivery
Wouldn't it be easier to add solar panels to a boxy kei car?
Someone already did it with a Model Y, so it's doable for $25k-35k now.
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/self-contained-solar...
It's trade offs regardless. Kei car sized EVs with solar have a niche, reasonably efficient full sized EVs with portable solar arrays have a niche, and hopefully Aptera will fill a third niche (higher speed/more usable range/more efficient than others with less storage/space)
I suppose the surface area + efficiency isn't there yet, but it would be sick to take my e-bike places and then expand a canopy to charge and then go on again.
It’s possible! There’s a yearly bike race from Europe to China called The Sun Trip, where people mod their bikes with solar and batteries and ride 12k km to China. You might like this documentary that covered the first Sun Trip that happened in 2018: https://youtu.be/P1LB0jPh7QQ
Good for them. I loved the concept since I first saw it in the 2000s. They still have a niche for some, like people without easy access to charging, people who want the absolute lowest charging/driving costs, and off-grid usability. 20-40 miles of charge per day means you can slowly travel/camp in a bunch of places as long as you have food/water, people have done this with Model Ys too, but dragging a large portable…