Can some thought be given to designing the rear hatch so that when the hatch is raised the cargo deck is a flat surface to it's edge thus avoiding the hassle of having to raise/climb over the high lip area where the license tag currently resides ?
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What about something to block material in the hatch from hitting the driver, passenger, or LCD display? Personally, I don’t want my tools sliding up when I slam on the brakes and tipping over my coffee. I’m a newbie, so I’m sorry if I didn’t see this on here already. 😀
I'm not concerned about the lift height into the cargo area. It's much more than that to get stuff into my pickup bed. This is one of those trade-offs I'm willing to make in the interest of having a strong, lightweight BEV.
Sounds like good ideas. The lower access height of the rear hatch is already awkwardly high at hip level. I agree that lowering the opening would facilitate loading from the rear. But also remember that that the vertical height of the trunk volume is going to be only inches as one moves further back. To access a more usable area of the trunk, one might actually be loading from each side vs loading from the rear and pushing the cargo forward in order to close the door. I think I read somewhere that the cargo area volume was about 25 cubic feet (someone correct me if I am wrong). So while visualizing the cross section of this cycle, most of the cargo area will be ahead of the rear tire. Notice in their videos that coolers were place behind the seats and flat cargo such as surfboards were the only thing that extended the full cargo length. Something the dimension of two people laying down can fit but only with the hatch opened, not closed. They were very careful in selecting items in their marketing that can fit.
When getting the rear hatch covered with solar cells will the rear glass be replaced with a lighter material?
Could the rear section of the Aptera (where the registration plate resides) be attached to the rear hatch so that when the hatch is opened that panel goes up with it? This would eliminate having to lift objects over it and provide a continually flat surface all the way out the back.
Cant remove the back hatch as the review camera is mounted on the hatch. If you dont want to use the rear view camera then a standard review mirror would be required to see out the back. Also, at least in my state, you are required by law to have an unobstructed view to the rear which means your load would have to be flat enough to allow the review mirror that unobstructed view
I'm not planning to give up my pickup, and will continue to use that for hauling larger / heavier items. The Aptera will easily carry myself, wife & dog along with 2 fishing poles.
I have two 80" door frames I need to take back to the big box store because they were damaged on delivery. I'm dreading trying to figure out how to stuff them into my prius c. I would love to be able to clear out the back, pop the hatch door and load them in. I'm thinking, it'll just need some cargo net tie downs on the inside and on the hatch. The hatch will likely need to be fully extended. The biggest issue is going to be the annoying door open indicator for the entire trip.
Hmm. I have this vision of a heavy load hanging out the back suddenly exiting as the driver floors the accelerator 😯. Time to add tie down points and net!
This could be added to the accessories thread - put spacers in the cargo area so that you could load some large object flush with the lip of the rear hatch and stick out the back.
Also, can you make it removable, so that we can use the rear deck in 'truck mode'?