Street parking restrictions and city ordinances (in the U.S.)

The next Aptera vehicle, a 4 wheel. 5 passenger sedan, will almost certainly be narrower. The use case for that vehicle will be much broader. Think of the present Aptera 3 wheeler filling the same role for Aptera as the Roadster did for Tesla.

Thank you, fellow Aptera fans, for all the great points and information.

Today I measured a few of the compact spaces at my workplace (unfortunately, most of them are compact), and they were 85" stripe to stripe. Aptera at 88" is wider than those spaces. Maybe the definition of compact also varies with municipality?

My current car, at 76" including mirrors, is a full 12" narrower than the Aptera, and already more of a parking challenge than I'd like at times, particularly at work (urban southern California). Of the times I have managed (carefully!) to squeeze into a remaining compact spot, sometimes I can't even get out of my car. To open the door enough to get out, squeezing my legs through 6" between door interior and frame exterior (I'm tall and thin), requires an additional 7" beyond the mirror width. Inches matter!

I next measured a few of the standard (non-compact) spaces: 96" wide. In an 88" wide Aptera, that's a mere 4" on either side if dead center. After over 20 years of driving, I still don't have the skill to so precisely, in a tight parking lot, turn 90 degrees into a parking space with such little margin... not to mention get in/out of the vehicle afterward with so little space (but maybe with the Aptera the doors opening up require *no* additional space beyond the 88"... not sure?).

I do really, REALLY want an Aptera (since 2008!) and I'm still really excited to get my Paradigm edition! But, regulations aside, I am definitely concerned what it will be like (if even possible) trying to park at some places I have to regularly go (like work). While the efficiency is incredible, if it's routinely a pain (or worse) to park, what good is that?

If it's truly too late for the Paradigm to be narrower, my hope is that there are plenty of future Aptera owners in less-urban/dense areas for whom the current width is no problem at all, so Aptera succeeds, and goes on to eventually produce a more narrow version (among others!), even if not quite as efficient (or quite as spacious a cabin). If I have to wait, I will... it's an amazing vehicle.

I don't want to fix it EVER, or lose sleep worrying about it getting hit, or ruin a day (at the very least) when I go out to drive it & it's been immobilized by a hit & run that would have only taken out the mirror of an 88" wide truck, which by the way can put its right mirror over the sidewalk, which an Aptera wheel can't do legally.

I suspect the ordinances were written to keep wide trailers from street parking for extended periods, but the point is well taken. Aptera's are too wide. Time to give up some efficiency for practically. A Slingshot is 77.6" wide and it is not considered "unstable", is it?

Right. Somewhat similar to the EU limit of tread span. The US parking ordinances may go by something similar, or maybe outer edge of fenders, but Aptera would be disqualified on either one of those measurements.

I have to wonder how enforceable and enforced these restrictions are. A new GMC Sierra 1500 (not a dually) is 81" without the mirrors. It's available for sale in CA and would handily exceed the 7 foot limit with the mirrors open. I lived in Torrance for a few years and there were a few pickups of that class within the apartment complex.

Aptera has indicated they're working on EU compliance, which apparently requires 2m max width between the outer edges of the tire tread, which is 78.74".

I believe it was in discussion of that goal that they mentioned adding a sway bar to retain stability even with a narrower track.

I agree with all the excellent points brought up (comparisons to other larger vehicles, performance and stability concerns, etc. etc...), but that doesn't change the fact that city ordinances similar to the examples listed above could potentially exist all across the country. That might not bother a lot of people who reserved a vehicle, but I think it's still a valid concern. Maybe I'd never get cited for such a silly technicality, but I'd like the peace of mind knowing I wouldn't have to worry about that in the first place.

Like I mentioned in my first comment, maybe there could be some kind of manually adjustable configuration (88in. “Track Mode” and <80in. “City Mode”). The "City Mode" could be used for everyday driving around town at lower speeds where the aerodynamics wouldn't factor in as much as during highway driving and road trips. I'm not suggesting a complex electronic system activated from the touchscreen controls, but rather something that would have to be manually adjusted at each suspension arm when needed, to keep these changes comparatively simple for the production vehicles.

Also, to be clear, I hope this post didn't come across as me trying to be negative towards the design of the Aptera. I absolutely love the look of it, the ideas put into it, and the growing community of people who appreciate a revolutionary vehicle like this. Just wanted to bring up a concern for discussion.

The Ram 1500 TRX truck is the same width as the Aptera at 88 inches. It is indeed a huge truck, but it is street legal. Perhaps California cities might cite this vehicle, but I doubt any other state would and the same would apply to the Aptera. Plus I believe the brain trust at Aptera has already studied this, so I'm not concerned about this.

I suspect virtually no one with any current unmodified vehicle with the width of the Aptera has ever gotten a ticket based on those ordinances.

The width of the front wheels improves the Cd by more than 10%. A narrower track would kill the performance and stability of the vehicle.

It may be that some lobbying is in order. The Aptera is not too wide to fit even in a compact parking space. The streets in many of these towns are full of pickups that exceed these dimensions. The advantages of Aptera compared to vehicles that routinely exceed the listed dimensions, should make a selective enforcement claim easy to win.

Think back to the last time you were in Long Beach. Did you see any dual rear wheel pickup trucks there? Those are 96 inches wide across the rear fenders (mirrors are wider). Not to say the driving experience is anything like similar between a RAM 2500 and an Aptera. Of course the large pickup truck driver is going to be choosey about where they maneuver and park. The trucks are, however, spotted here and there, wedged into a parking spot at Walmart. But looking only at the width...it is not apparent that the cops are following the trucks around with their ticket books out.

By the way, any pickup truck towing just about any utility trailer will exceed lengths listed. And they aren't running around gathering up their "oversized" permits either. So, what are these quoted ordinances really about? As a practical matter, when, where, and to what do they really apply?

Great comment. I had no idea each city could define a "wide vehicle".