Will the battery be reached threw the interior or under the vehicle?
looking at the exterior the whole body is seamless like there is no bottom panel to drop to access the battery however from renderings of the cars body components it appears that the battery is separate from the passenger compartment. Makes a lot more sense to me to be able to drop batteries from bottom rather than removing whole interior.
I suppose that the better handling model would be the one with the most sprung weight...meaning that the in-wheel motors on a very light vehicle (minimal battery pack) would have a higher unsprung to sprung weight ratio and worse handling. Is that how it works?!
Ya, I see there "Added weight 23kg", which seems to imply it's 23kg more than the unpowered hub parts it replaces, but Either way, the 3rd motor adds weight that has to be accelerated longitudinally and rotationally. Also laterally, for cornering.
I thought it was 51 Lbs including the hub parts that would supposedly ordinarily weigh 30Lbs. Either way, the 3rd motor adds weight that has to be accelerated & braked both longitudinally AND rotationally, which takes a bit away from its added acceleration capacity.
If my theory above holds true, simply leaving the power divided across all 3 motors might be most efficient, but if not, it would be cool for a computer to optimize it, although it's SO efficient as-is that it doesn't matter as much as in any other EV.
Ya, & apparently another factor is that even for a one-time drag-race launch, IF the rest of the system is designed to handle it, a bigger battery can put out more current for quicker acceleration, although probably not enough extra to fully compensate for its extra weight. & adding rotational mass such as a 3rd hub motor takes more energy to accelerate, but of course it's extra torque more than compensates.
For range however, besides the 3rd motor's extra 21Lb(?*) of rotational mass, it shouldn't make much difference. The nearly-identical total power required is just spread over 3 motors instead of 2. In fact it might even use less total battery power with 3 motors drawing less current each, with less heat loss & therefore increased range. If so, the same lower current might also improve regen efficiency, which would extend range.
*I think I read somewhere that 21Lb is the "added weight" of the hub motor, over a plain hub.
For sure the best cornering, & maybe the best efficiency will be with the smaller lighter battery & lighter 2-motor setup. Almost certainly the best acceleration will be with 3 motors. Depending on several of the many other variables, best acceleration may or may not be with the smallest lightest battery.
Thank you for the response. Does the added weight of the extra battery packs affect the performance of the vehicle? It would seem that the lighter the load the better the performance?
@deanavey@apexfilms.ca Aptera is not releasing the names of all its vendors at this time but here's a link to a video of the pack for the prototype being assembled: https://www.facebook.com/2136614519931666/videos/547955092718061
Who is making the batteries for this vehicle? Does the vehicle architecture allow for battery pack upgrades as battery technology advances?
@Riley
My EV's 24kW battery can be dropped from below, when it wears out in about 560,000 miles.