The width of the car is big. I would like for the body of the car to have slight curves that give space for the wheels to turn (not holes but more like dimples) that may take away a little bit of the aerodynamics but help the wheels be closer into the body and have the wheels be safer. I would leave it to the engineers to identify if is is very stable still, but should be still more stable than the average sedan. I would like for the wheels to not be with a full cover that may get scratched easily for those of us needing to park it on the street. I know the material is dent resistant or dent proof but would like to know if it can handle scratches well or not.
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I live in the UK and have driven all over Europe and much of the USA. I am sure the width of the Aptera would be fine on main roads and even country lanes but parking and low speed manoeuvring would not be possible in many places.
I have an idea, let’s call it IN-UP mode lifting the front axle UP and bringing the fronts wheels IN. I estimate that the Aptera lower front wishbones are 30 inches long. If an automated preload was applied to the front suspension, raising the lower wishbones to an angle of 35 degrees, the front track would be reduced to 78 inches. At a 78” width, UK multi-storey car parks, garage access and side street parking would all be possible.
The Aptera would obviously have to be rolling in order to raise/lower the front suspension and reduce the front track. A simple control would need to be available to the driver. Even this could be automated based upon sensors, vehicle location and speed. Stability would be obviously be impaired so a maximum IN-UP speed would likely be applied, hopefully 30 mph but even 5mph would work.
Residential areas are increasingly adopting 7 foot width restrictions to prevent commercial vehicle access. IN-UP mode would make the Aptera a real people’s car.