

We Drive the Aptera, and It's a Real Car - vaksel
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/04/we-drive-the-ap.html

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jasongullickson
I've been following Aptera for awhile and they are one of the very few
companies looking at the electric car as a clean-slate design. I can
appreciate the benefits of taking our current idea of "a car" and swapping out
the traditional powerplant for an electric one, but we won't see the true
potential of electric drive until we abandon our preconceived notions of what
a car is and design one from the ground up using parameters established by
this drivetrain.

Aerodynamics and style aside, the construction techniques used in the Aptera
have been proven in both aircraft and automobiles (at the racetrack) and,
while new to production automobiles, have a proven history and a lot of
engineering behind them. These vehicles have the potential to not only meet
the performance and safety requirements of existing automobiles but exceed
them.

I applaud the effort of every manufacturer (honestly) attempting to bring an
electric car to market but I hold a special respect for those willing to take
the risk of re-imagining the American automobile.

My only regret is their focus on "fair-weather" states, if they ever come to
Wisconsin, I'll be the first in line.

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donw
I applaud their innovation, but it looks like a cut-up Cessna in a pair of
roller skates. I can only imagine how much interior room you lose on account
of that, and even though it's as "big as a Honda Civic", it looks to only seat
two.

Plus, it's another battery-powered beast... slow to charge, quick to
accelerate, but heavy as hell compared to either gasoline or a fuel-cell
vehicle. Not to mention the huge amount of pollution required to make LiOn
batteries in the first place.

So, it's interior dimensions are a bit better than a Smart Two-Two, it has a
bigger environmental impact (including manufacturing) than pretty much any of
the small city cars you find in Europe, is twice as expensive, and will be a
fashion statement in California to show how 'environmentally conscious' people
are.

So, I don't like it. Watch it sell like a KFC next to a Weight Watchers. :)

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mr_justin
Yeah I didn't follow that statement in the article either, about as "big as a
CRV on the inside ... it seats two". Last time I checked, the CRV is a small
SUV, with 5 seats and plenty of cargo space.

Not sure I follow your "heavy as hell compared to either gasoline ..."
statement. The car weighs 1700 pounds. That is more than 1/2 the weight of
most modern vehicles. I'm with you though, the current state batteries for
electric vehicles leaves a lot to be desired.

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TimothyFitz
I'm guessing it's a typo, and they meant a CRX.

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biohacker42
100 miles in great. But gasoline is one hell of an energy dense and convenient
fuel. It will go several hundred miles and "recharges" in minutes.

Hydrogen could be as energy dense but transporting it is a pain.

That's why I've been wondering about a sealed tank with water, which would use
electrolysis to split it into hydrogen and oxygen.

The gas stations could keep huge capacitors which continually recharge slowly
from the gird. When a car pulls up the capacitor would dump enough juice in it
to split the water in minutes. Then while you drive you "burn" the hydrogen
and turn it back into water.

But the whole system is sealed and there's no need to worry about the
infrastructure necessary to ship hydrogen all over the continent.

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Retric
The gas station could also directly split the water which is easy to
transport. The only advantage to on bard electrolysis is home charging.
Anyway, the real problem is storing enough H2 to drive a useful distance.

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biohacker42
Good point the stations could certainly split the water. I was under the
impression that fuel cells to have range comparable to gasoline. Here's a
wired blog about Toyota's fuel cell claims:
<http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/516-mile-range.html>

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Retric
You can burn hydrogen in a normal car engine the issue is the fuel tank. Pound
per Pound Hydrogen has a higher energy density than gas, but high pressure
tanks are costly and take up a lot of space.

Fuel cells have a higher efficiency which let's you store less fuel, but they
are even more costly. You can even make a hybrid, fuel cell, hydrogen car like
the FCHV-adv, but few people are going to want to pay the full cost of such a
beast. Ok, they could do a small production run like the Bugatti Veyron
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Veyron> at a loss.

PS: Toyota, is getting people to road test their prototype, but don't think
this is any where near being cost effective in mass production.

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biohacker42
I wonder what's an easier engineering task, affordable fuel cells, or
affordable high pressure hydrogen tanks?

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shaunxcode
"The 2e doesn't place form over function, form is function."

Replace 2e with anything that you admire and you will most likely find that
statement to be true. I think that is incredibly important and the answer to
the false dichotomy that is "form or function?". When you do it right you end
up with both.

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HeyLaughingBoy
I have to admit that it's pretty. I used to think it was a dumb idea, but it
looks cool and seems quite usable. I'd buy one if I had that kind of "play
money."

It's by no means practical and I'm sure the first few 1,000s will be purchased
like the comment said "as a fashion statement." But realistically, except for
the crappy range, it's as "useful" as my 350Z: which is to say, not very - you
buy these things for fun, not practicality!

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JulianMorrison
The range is a price thing. Tesla has shown you _can_ squeeze serious range
out of an EV - and design a commodity car for quick battery swaps. But all of
that costs money. Aptera is undercutting Tesla's second car with their first,
they can't afford to gold plate it, so they have to make the best of old tech.

Economies of scale acting on EV battery packs should make their jobs easier
after 2010.

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joshu
I've ridden in a pre-production one. They're pretty big inside. The hinges and
whatnot were a bit creaky.

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redrobot5050
Were they still planning on having on-seatbelt airbags that deploy in the
event of a crash? Or have they adopted more traditional airbag configuration?

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joshu
Dunno. It just had regular seatbelts, though.

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pfedor
Can one drive it on a freeway? The article doesn't really say that, although
the comparison to Honda Civic suggests that the answer is yes.

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rationalbeaver
The article also mentions a top speed of 90 mph, so I would assume so.

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teilo
Now THIS is a useful electric car. To hell with the Peapod crap from Chrysler.

