Based on seeing a lot of online discussions - I recommend Aptera & supporters to stop talking about "up to 40 miles per day." Because the knee-jerk reaction to that is always "But I drive more than 40 miles in a day!"
Instead, say:
"The car can go up to 1000 miles on a charge, depending on the model. And the solar panels provide some free energy. If you drive less than ~200 miles a week, you'll never have to plug it in."
Or something more concise. I'm sure you all can come up with something better.
In both my examples above, I use STATE of charge, the percentage of the battery's capacity that is currently charged (INPUT).
I compared 2 cars of equal range, both driven an equal distance before charging.
I did not compare these 2 from the other example above:
- 240-mile Current EV after driving 192 miles (to get to 20%)
- 600-mile Aptera after driving 480 miles (to get to 20%)
The same goes for L2: The rate of charging – the speed at which the SOC increases – is SLOWER with a 6.6kW AC charger on a current 250-mile EV, than it is with a 3.3*kW AC charger on a 250-mile Aptera.
If both vehicles arrive at an L2 home or public charger with 20%, charging to 80% requires adding 60%...:
250-mile current EV divided by its 4 mi/kWh efficiency requires 62.5kWh battery x 60% is 37.5kW, divided by 6.6kW AC charging is 5.68 hours (10.6%/hour).
250-mile Aptera divided by its 10 mi/kWh efficiency requires only 25kWh battery x 60% is 15kW, divided by 3.3*kW AC charging is 4.55 hours (13%/hour).
The speed at which Aptera SOC increases is faster.
* Currently on line 3 of Aptera's FAQ Spreadsheet
Going from 20% to 80% means adding 60%:
250-mile current EV divided by its 4 mi/kWh efficiency requires 62.5kWh battery x 60% is 37.5kW, divided by 125kW DC charging is 0.3 hours.
250-mile Aptera divided by its 10 mi/kWh efficiency requires only 25kWh battery x 60% is 15kW, divided by 50kW DC charging is 0.3 hours.
Same charging time.
Something that receives little attention -- but in my opinion is a big deal -- is the ability to charge from regular household current in the garage or driveway. Depending on how off-peak one wishes to go, the ability to charge at $.05 to $.10 per kWh off-peak residential rates rather than the $.30 to $.40 per kWh and above rates at public charging stations, all without the expense of purchasing and installing a dedicated residential EV charger or the inconvenience of waiting for the vehicle to charge, is a huge plus for me.
Right, it does seem like Aptera's efficiency peaks at around 45-48mph, but its extremely low weight also makes a big difference in stop-&-go city traffic. It looks like averaging 30mph it's still twice as good as any other EV, at about 8.5mi/kWh.
@OceanDragon Remember, too, that the aerodynamic benefit only really comes into play at speeds over 45 mph - so we should expect that driving at that speed or slower will see the Aptera drinking electrons at a rate similar to that of other 100 (or 150) kW EVs. The incredible range will be evident at highway speeds, when most other EVs are devouring electrons at an alarming rate.
Good points. Yet another way of putting it, based on the ‘solar evaluator’ pic, is to say that depending on where you live, you could get the first 7k to 11k miles per year for free. Or, even simpler: regardless of the climate where you live, you can expect at least 7,000 miles per year without charging. (My day-to-day miles vary, but my annual numbers are fairly consistent, with 2020 as obvious exception).
My own knee-jerk reaction to "40 miles on solar" was that 40 miles is more than me or any other average American drives daily. That does mean that using ONLY Aptera's solar charging isn't enough for nearly half the drivers, but that's why it has a plug, & why there are public chargers.
40 miles is also what any other EV gets daily from plugging into an extension cord for about 8 hours during sleep OR work. For the average driver, that keeps a 100-mile or 1,000-mile battery topped off for any unexpected longer drive.
Personally I think "1,000 miles" is the gimmick, although maybe it's a good "lost leader" to get people to think about how far they really (don't) need to drive their day-to-day car. For those rare longer trips just rent/borrow/swap/fly.
This gets back to the age old conflict between the often compelling, but dubious claims of marketers versus couching information provided in a way that a meaningful conclusion can be arrived at by individual consumers; the latter being what an engineering communicator would offer.
In this case, I think they ought to leave it at stating the wattage of the solar package. Then someone like me can come along and say, "gee, my home 8.1kW PV array generated 45kWh on a recent sunny day. If I had an Aptera with the full PV package and assuming (for lack of data) identical PV performance, the Aptera would have generated 3,889Wh. If (and this is still a pretty big IF in my opinion) the vehicle really does use 100W/mile as I will be using it, then I would have gained about 39 miles worth of charge from the vehicle's PV on that same day."
That's remarkably close to their claimed 40 miles per day. And for a mid April day several hundred miles north of their baseline San Diego latitude too. But that calculation is based on a host of special conditions and assumptions that I am keenly aware of - because they are all mine.
You're absolutely correct. People in general like to latch onto the marketing data in a way that favors their desires. That 1000 range should also include average speed, freeway vs city, use of air conditioning or heaters and elevation grades. In the case of those who voiced interest in towing, if one has a small trailer attached. My gut feeling is that 1000 mile range was ideally at 45 mph with all electrical accessories turned off on level ground. At this point, it is certainly a calculated range on paper. The range on solar is under ideal conditions with overhead sun without clouds, trees, or buildings which may pass the sunlight trajectory throughout an average day. One may even need to re-orient the car towards an ideal direction of the sun a couple of times per day depending upon which solar array they have selected. To me, the solar is a marketing gimmick and I will use home solar to charge the garaged car.