Does anybody else wonder how in the world we will activate the magnetic sensors at stop lights? Will the battery have enough magnetism through the body of the vehicle? Cooling systems radiators on underside of vehicle?
Edit: of course there is some steel in the motors, equipment under the hood and what not.
Don't worry about tripping the sensors. The electric motors will trip them easily. I ride motorcycles and had always had problems with tripping the sensors. But now I have a ZeroSR the motor trips the sensors everytime. I have had not problems on my Zero so Aptera with two motors in front and maybe one in back will not have a problem with tripping the sensors.
The traffic road "magnetic" sensor is basically a simple coil embedded in the asphalt and it is an induction loop. The Aptera is wide enough where a simple horizontal wire loop can be embedded in the base of the body for the road sensor to detect its presence efficiently. In the case of a metal car the peripheral metal counts since the detector is looking for a reduction of inductance, a close proximity metal conducting loop. The body loop wire does not have to be excessively large or heavy gauges, it would add negligible weight. It doesn't take much. Like spacepilot has reported, I have tilted my bicycle nearly horizontal above a road sensor with my bike and the road sensor detected the horizontal metal loop and changed the traffic light for me.
I’ve had trouble at some magnetic sensors with my bicycle, but often tipping the bike nearly sideways near one of the corners will do the trick. I’m guess the metal in the battery pack will be enough, unfortunately I don’t have mine to test yet.
Tesla's have a lot of aluminum, but there is a bunch of steel in there too Model 3 is about 3,500 lbs, less 1,000 of battery leaves about 2,500 lbs of "car". I read a while back that an Aptera is about 830 lbs without batteries...
The post-fire Tesla's that melted away the aluminum show plenty of steel left behind
Question: So a Tesla Model S or X won't activate a light sensor? They're all-aluminum...
Re the light sensor loops, they're all induction here in CA. They react to ferrous metals, so the % of steel in the wheels and floor will probably be the biggest hint at performance. Aluminum rims, control arms, motor hubs and brake calipers won't be detected, but steel bearings and brake pistons will. The substantial magnets in the motors could help, time will tell.
I've never had a magnet help my motorcycles at lights, even when I arranged for a city rep to adjust one of the worst ones in the neighborhood. We tried with a couple hefty magnets and a "Green Light Trigger" ($30!?!?) but the signal was the same on his handheld scope.
As motorcyclists have had to deal with this issue, the solution I read about that worked for one might apply here: He simply got a smallish but powerful neodymium magnet and mounted it low on the bottom of the bike. Claimed it worked perfectly every time. With a Paradigm, mounting one on the rear suspension arm would seem to be the obvious place. Only problem would be when the in-pavement sensor is poorly placed too close to the stop-line or gate, and you'd have to creep forward to get the magnet to pass over the first edge of the sensor.
A real world test will sort these possible issues out. As soon as I get mine this will be a top priority.
If the battery compartment will not activate sensors then they may need to add a thin sheet of foil like material to the underside of vehicle. The motors are too far out on the edge to activate without almost lane splitting, as most sensors are in the middle of the lane.
Raoul, Excellent point. We have some magnetic sensor in my area and I have to bicycle onto the sidewalk to push the crossing button. It then takes quite a while to change. I am one of the first 100 order for the aptera so i will let you know how it works or doesn't . They might not have any in the San Diego area to test with.
People also worry about drive thru ATM and fast food service windows. Will the small side windows open far enough. Also what about toll roads and similar services? These are all things we need to try and find work arounds if it is a challenge.
I also wonder how the air conditioning will do in our Phoenix 120F Sunny days and warm 90F evenings will the batteries stay cool for long life? Will parking all day not plugged in on a black 150F parking lot be a problem?
Timexwill tell and I will be making videos with a fellow aptera reservation person Len. Stay tuned and keep up the important concerns.
The question regarding traffic sensors is valid. Even some rather large motorcycles do not always trip the inductive loop sensors. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_loop):
"The relatively crude nature of the loop's structure means that only metal masses above a certain size are capable of triggering the relay. This is good in that the loop does not thus produce very many "false positive" triggers (say, for example, by a pedestrian crossing the loop with a pocket full of loose metal change) but it sometimes also means that bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles stopped at such intersections may never be detected by them (and therefore risk being ignored by the switch/signal). Most loops can be adjusted manually to consistently detect the presence of scooters and motorcycles at the least."
I think that this should be tested - if the composite construction of the Aptera does not include enough metal in the right place to trigger the inductive loop, traffic lights may not "see" the vehicle. The answer could be as simple as relocating or adding some ferrous based components.
In my state, Kansas, we have a law for motorcycles. If the bike doesn't trip the sensor, you can go when safe.
Yes some traffic light don't sense small light vehicles. I often ride a bicycle and it will not see and respond to you. I'd love to test that isdue at some lights near my home in Chandler Arizona.
Electric motors are MASSIVELY magnetic. I'm pretty certain their won't be any issues...
If your question is the same as tripping the sensor use to open an automatic gate upon leaving... I had asked this question and was told... apply brake and “momentarily power motor” and it should trip sensor.... Of course in my case I can just use my gate with my remote, which I never had to use to exit ...I am not sure I am talking about the same technology
¯\_(ツ)_/¯