A tent for an Aptera

Dids

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Some of my thoughts on Aptera.
From the looks of the outriggers I'm guessing hub motors. This unsprung weight is not optimal.
3 wheel design means it's gonna be hard to avoid hitting the pothole.
Electric cars are heavy due to battery weight and even though they are creating a very lightweight body the weight per wheel must still be high. I get the thought of lower rolling resistance of 3 wheels but that also cuts contact area. This car will not have a fast 0-60.... nor will it have a short stopping distance. Traction is going to be an issue as the tires appear to be as thin as possible for efficiency.
Not trying to be a doom and gloom but engineering and physics being what they are everything is a tradeoff. Gain efficiency but lose broad functionality.
Sponsored

 

Crissa

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Sure, unsprung weight is bad. However, this isn't an offroad racer, and the weight of hub motors isn't worse than the steel rims and drum brakes of two decades ago. That's matched with a more modern knowledge of suspension.

Batteries are heavy - but at 100Wh per mile, a 1000 mile battery weighs no more than a Model S's battery. But the Aptera is going to weigh alot, alot less everywhere else.

Take-off for a two-motor Aptera won't be astounding - but it'll beat my Mazda 3, which is the second-peppiest car I've owned. And the three-motor will get three seconds 0-60. That's like peppy motorcycle speed.

And with electric motors, it'll be able to deal with slip and use vectored thrust on those outriggers. It'll handle better than anything like it has a right to.

-Crissa
 
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Just two, it's like a small coupe. But no dinky seat in the back.

-Crissa
I do wish they’d make space back there for kids seats. Even one would do. No seatbelt, just isofix mounting points.
 

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Sure, unsprung weight is bad. However, this isn't an offroad racer, and the weight of hub motors isn't worse than the steel rims and drum brakes of two decades ago. That's matched with a more modern knowledge of suspension.

Batteries are heavy - but at 100Wh per mile, a 1000 battery weighs no more than a Model S's battery. But the Aptera is going to weigh alot, alot less everywhere else.

Take-off for a two-motor Aptera won't be astounding - but it'll beat my Mazda 3, which is the second-peppiest car I've owned. And the three-motor will get three seconds 0-60. That's like peppy motorcycle speed.

And with electric motors, it'll be able to deal with slip and use vectored thrust on those outriggers. It'll handle better than anything like it has a right to.

-Crissa
Also those wheels are set very wide. 2235mm from memory. So it’s going to handle like it’s on rails. Does make homologation in Australia very challenging though…. Max width for motorcycles with three wheels….2000mm I don’t think it can be tested as a car…
 


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They did say they'll have hard points back there. For the dog carrier, at least.

-Crissa
I think those hard points are for a cargo barrier. It would be good to see a review soon.
 

anionic1

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A number of people on this forum have a reservation in for an Aptera as well as a CT. I intend to get both and use the Aptera as a dingy. When I camp I can leave the CT plugged in to an outlet and run errands and sightseen in the Aptera. It charges from the sun so a 10 or 20 mile trip to the store or the lake or whatever would not run the battery down. The Aptera people are offering a tent to make it possible to sleep comfortably for $600!! There is an outfit( Habitent ) that makes camping tents for Priuses and some other cars for $100. If you are going to buy an Aptera please let them know if you would like them to produce their tent for the Aptera. I am going to fly to San Diego and pick up my Aptera and drive it back to Omaha, camping on the way. If the Habitent people have not been able to get an Aptera to build their tent I will resort to a blue tarp and bungee cords.
Or you could buy a $40 Coleman tent at walmart.
 

empiredown

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Here's some numbers...
 

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Zapharus

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E366DB2E-BAE3-4A11-ACE1-FD198C079A71.jpeg


I have something a bit bigger.

-Crissa
Just curious since I don't know the benefits of it since I've not camped since I was a child: Why does the car need to be inside the tent as well?
 
 




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