How to talk about solar range

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.

25 comments

25 Comments

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kiteboarder

Apr 29, 2021

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.

fanfare

May 17, 2021

Replying to

Or, for those rare longer trips, unless one is bionic, one will need to stop for nature stops. From New York to Southern Alabama I have noticed that there are at least one L3 charger no more than 75 miles apart. This means that one can easily drive from New York to Alabama even with a 250 mile Aptera model. On top of that, if you stop for the night, which you will have to do on such a long trip, simply rent an AirBNB to which you can plug into. That should give you at least another 110 miles or more whist you sleep. Just regular stops along the way for meals, nature stops and overnight sleeping should suffice to keep one juiced up for those long trips. And with today's apps which show the proliferation of plugs along the way the FUD should quickly dissipate. Furthermore, it will take the Aptera much much less time to charge than most other EVs, so even if you stop for a 30 minute bite to eat at an L3 charger that will fully charge a 250 mile Aptera model. Here's a trick I've learnt from a Tesla owner: Before arriving at the charger, order a meal from DoorDash, UberEats or GrubHub and have it delivered to the charging station. That way you can eat as the EV charges. And this way there is no loss of time whatsoever other than what you would have used for eating anyway, and the likelihood of you finding just what you'd like to eat is higher, plus, you don;t have to drive all over the place to find the food that you want because it comes to you on those long trips in case the food is non-existent or not to your liking at whatever charger you plan to stop. Hope that helps alleviate some of that anxiety as it is more unfounded than many will declare, especially the doubters.