While it may take away from the overall beauty of the Aptera it would protect the very vulnerable extended front wheels. Mini Cooper has bumper guards that have really made a difference on my cars. No dents and scratches can be wiped away. Perhaps the whole wheel base can be made of a durable material that wouldn't be dentable/scratchable? I would pay extra if this was optional.
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I think that a bumper will change completely the shape of the car and the cx along.
It wouldn't be an extra bumper but rather the whole wheel cover. Same shape, different material, no dents. Just an idea.
That's what electronic proximity sensors are for. Rather than actually hitting something, the car "yells" at you when you get too close.
I'm more worried about other drivers hitting me. As another poster noted, the front wheels jut out in such a way that someone parking their car adjacent to an Aptera might not be able to judge the distance between cars very well.
@nytracy Hopefully we will have a way to keep those yellow LED runner parking lights on when it's parked on the street, like on cars of old. Since they are LEDs, they'll draw very little power. And hopefully they'll have a Sentry Mode camera feature like Teslas do.
It would still a good idea making the wheel covers a little higher. Maybe higher enough not to hit curbs.
@devix195 doing that would make them less aerodynamic. The objective is to cover so much of the spinning wheel as possible - I believe it has to do with the Magnus effect...
@Kerbe I totally agree with you, but it should still be a practical vehicle.
@devix195 I sincerely doubt that the folks at Aptera are planning to make their vehicle impractical - I'm fairly certain they've struck a happy medium. There are plenty of vehicles on the road that have very low front ends that scrape on driveways, curbs, dips in the road, etc., and there are MANY, MANY different curb heights! In my town, curbs range from 2 inches up to about 18" in height (requiring stairs!).
Maybe the armored cladding for the wheel pants shown in the illustration of the Off-Road model could be utilized on ALL Apteras . They would have little effect on aerodynamics, yet would provide a protective shield against the inevitable bumps and scrapes the wheel pods will encounter in everyday driving.
Could be modular, like shoes for the car :D runners for the road, boots for off road (you get the idea)
great idea! It would probably affect the mileage but perhaps it wouldn't be by that much.