I am a car enthusiast. I have two uncles that raced and a grandfather who pitted for Parnelli Jones at Riverside back in the late 50’s. My point is I love fast well engineered cars. I currently drive an Audi S6 that has been modified. It will do 0-60 in 3.8 seconds on a good day. I want my new Aptera to be faster. I will moan, groan, tweak, modify and spend until I get the 0-60 time under 3 seconds. Why you say. For the thrill and adventure for one. Second to properly represent Aptera I have to be excited and convinced that this is the best thing since sliced bread. I want my family and friends to be impressed so that they will buy and invest. I ordered the 600 mile range because I travel. My round trips to my different businesses in Northern California are often 400 miles or greater. I drive fast. My experience with Tesla’s, great cars by the way, show me that my driving style yields about 75-80% of the stated range. I have built several electric bikes, using lithium phosphate batteries. My experience has been to charge them mostly to 80% and run them down to 10-20% left. This seems to yield the best longevity. Given my circumstances the 600 mile range seems to fit best. 1000 mile range for me would mean I would be carrying extra weight that I would rarely utilize. I will opt for the safety pilot option. I hate to admit it but at 61 my reflexes are not what they used to be. White will be my color. I live in an area that often sees 100 degree plus days in the summer time. I want to give the passive cooling system all the advantages I can. I will of course be utilizing the full solar package. Helps me pay for my reckless energy consuming ways. What have you ordered and why? I love this car and am growing to respect this company and its engineering prowess. GO APTERA!!!
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I think 600 miles is the sweet spot, that's the one that I reserved also. Unlike you I exceed the EPA efficiency in my Model 3 AWD, last weekend my round trip power usage was 215Wh/mile on a 170 mile trip to New Hampshire. I use my car for Saturday day trips, I seldom commute. Tomorrow we will be going to Warren VT, that will be a 400 mile trip and Warren is on top of a mountain which drains a lot of power on the way up (the Lincoln Gap has a 25 degree grade), you get a lot of that power back on the way down but first you have to make it to the top. The absolute longest trip that we've taken in a day is 450 miles. Assuming 90% charge and a 10% reserve we could do all of those trips without charging in a 600 mile vehicle. The 400 mile version isn't competitive with the Model 3 I already have because the Model 3 has the Supercharger network and if the Aptera ends up with CCS it won't. At 600 miles the crappy CCS network ceases to be an issue, even on multiple day road trips as long as we choose hotels with destination charging we won't need to do fast charging. The 1000 mile version is overkill, I can't conceive of a situation where I would go a 1000 miles in one day and the 1000 mile version will weigh at least 400lbs more than the 600 mile version.
I ordered the 60kw version because under the very worst conditions I hope to get 400 mile range. Keeping battery between 20% and 80% for longevity and heat or air condition and radio.
If I was not on the dusty desert I might have considered Noir…
The nose cone and wheel seemed to be matte like its body.
Of course the black solar array is glossy black
I am glad they are offering a few standard no cost color choices, inside and out
I have never liked black vehicles. The noir aptera with its black color but contrasting finishes is the first black vehicle I like.
I have to see it to fully appreciate!
No one has to commit yet!
All these contrasting colors on all the wheel covers are vinyl wraps too.
Vinyl wrap color change for these small areas should be inexpensive I imagine
And we have not yet learned what customization Aptera will offer as an option yet.
Back in 2009 I liked the mono colored ( all white) Aptera. But back then the dark solar array was only on the roof
I am going full solar because of what is offers today
Congrats and glad to see you back!
Can’t wait to see that color combo and if they will have the same glossy black solar on the Noir and Sol and not midnight blue solar that was once listed on the spec sheet
Either would look great on it though!
(My wife once owned a Nissan Juke RS that had a body color called Midnight Blue, which looked black but had tiny metallic deep blue chips ,which was neat)
I put in the $100 deposit, on a 60kWh (?) AWD, in Luna colors (silver, gray, & black) with the Codex interior. I am also going for the camping setup, and the upgraded audio system.
#22640 It has been a long time in coming - I was an early supporter, and was a moderator on the old Aptera forum. I am looking forward to it!
The 0-60 is already under 3 seconds, you won't need to do any tweaking to get there unless there is a decision to lower the power output, which is unlikely because drive modes will likely be selectable. That said, the 250 and 400 mile range would get you a slightly faster 0-60.
3.5 time is old data, but Aptera wants to under promise and over deliver at this stage.
Black absorbs both visible light and infrared. I would like to see the temperature differences in direct sunlight. I theorize that the whole envelope of the black body would have a higher temperature thus reducing the cooling capacity. We can compare notes after our delivery.
"Parade Rainer" here: Remember - no matter what color Aptera you choose, the tops surfaces are either black, black with glass or black with solar cells. Those are the surfaces that will be facing the sun, so a white belly will do very little to "reflect heat": White reflects visible light but absorbs infrared...
The rendering shows a seam on the side of the front wheel shrouds. The real Sol does not appear to have this. This makes the reality version better than the rendering.
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Well done for first off Sol!
I see the rear wheel shroud gently sweeps upward on the bottom making it handle dips and potholes better. I hope the front wheel shrouds will also have this upsweep. The sol picture does not appear this way, but it is only the second vehicle they have made. How impatient we armchair engineers are!
This is a June picture of the alpha vehicle “Sol”. It sure looks more like 9”
🤞
Awesome. Thank you.
Using Ctrl+F (for "Find") on the FAQ sheet, currently on line 114*: Right now approach and departure angles are 14/12 deg on the front and 14/20 deg on the rear with 5" of wheel cover clearance at each wheel.
It's the wheel covers that have these "good" angles (line 81). I don't recall seeing anything about the angles for the belly clearance, nor can I find anything now.
Currently on line 261*: "off-road wheel covers are planned to be 2" higher".
I'll let someone else try to calculate the larger entry/exit angles for that.
Line 396*: belly pan around 6"
That's a significant drop from the 9" spec previously published (& still on the website's FAQ) but still plenty for even the worst speedbump I've been able to find.
*Numbers change when they delete lines above.
I also ordered a 600, for the same reasons others have expressed. Winter temps and snow on the ground here lasts 6 months, so with AWD and the off road suspension I expect somewhere around 400 actual miles of range. Zero-60 specs mean next to nothing to me. But I occasionally use freeways in Idaho with speed limits of 80mph. And on empty rural highways 70mph seems appropriate, so I would most enjoy an Aptera optimized for efficiency at those speeds.
Most of the time my Aptera will be stored in a garage, so I did not option the solar rear hatch. However, I can imagine apartment dwellers and others without garages easily justifying paying for the full solar package.
I reserved the 600 mile version as well, but not necessarily for to drive 600 miles. Rather, while the Aptera is light and wonderfully aerodynamic which minimize the energy cost per mile to around 100Wh, other electric costs like running the screen, speakers, interior lights, and especially atmosphere control (heating and cooling) are static; I'd like to go camping in my Aptera and want enough power to run these over the course of a few days when needed without worry.
I enjoy off road travel and have owned several Jeep’s through the years. My current of road vehicle is a Lexus GX470 which I am planning to replace with a Cyber Truck when available. I am interested in any information you have on the Off Road Aptera model. Clearance specs and any modification to the suspension. Is the suspension adjustable? Air shocks etc. If this is covered somewhere on the forum please point me in that direction. Thank you!
WOW Welcome! You will be a great addition to this forum.
We picked many of the same choices for same reasons. I have Off Road on the reservation although until I see what it really brings p....it is TBD. I do have four miles of primitive roads, although well maintained, to drive each time out of the ranch. I have no plans to really go off road, so range loss for net height gain will factor in.
Monsoon is short lived... and Snow is not much of a worry here even at 4200’.
AWD seems useful even with a weight range hit... I don’t need 0-60 in 3.5 sec in my like although AZ interstates are 75mph so maybe a fast entry/ maneuver may be needed. The torque vectoring and added stability will be interesting
I too reserved full solar and hope to use the shining ball of power out most of the year. 🤞 on the micro channel cooling
aptera ( wingless) with the winged!
I've also ordered the 600 mile version, and currently own a Tesla S with 402 range. Need more in the vast west.