Hello all :-)
I have read a bit about Aptera now, and I think it is a wonderfully looking concept that I'd love to buy if I had the cash. I agree with those that say it is important to get a product on the market; I do however hope that there will be a possibility to add features later and that the first design takes that into account. 'A car that is designed with the possibility to be further improved in the future, wins my heart'.
Here's my wish list: - v2h (Vehicle to Home), With the 100kw battery package, this would be a very attractive feature... If it could be combined with the possibility of changing the cars batteries as they are worn out and/or new battery technology comes to life, I think it would really be a winner. - fast or not slow charging at home. Sometimes things happen fast, and one could easily find oneself coming home out of juice and quickly needing to go out again. I can imagine that quite a few people are willing to pay for the possibility of fast charging (home or elsewhere), keeping the anxiety of the 'common people' at bay at the very least. - Will need the car to be able to use studded tyres for icy snowy winter driving. I understand that this will decrease range. - Heated seats, steering wheel, battery and front screen if possible. - App for deicing and heating car and battery in sub C temp. - Would like to have a trailer hitch, or a possibility to add that later. - Towing points reasonably easily accessible. I saw that there would be a towing point in the front suspension... sounds good. - Good high and low beam lights. - A solution for mounting (streamlined) auxiliary lights for driving in very dark, wet and horrible conditions (aftermarket auxiliaries maybe?). Auxiliary lights are very popular in Sweden, where I live. Also popular in parts of Norway and Finland, where the deer and the Elch play in the woods. - Corrosion resistant subframes/car or made so it can withstand being coated in e.g. fluid film. Theres a lot of people in my neck of the woods that repeatedly drives on very salty roads. I also have a few questions, here they are: - which color of the car would be the best for onboard solar charging? No impact at all? If it is a color that is slightly better, I would tend to go for that. - I actually would not like to have the safety pilot feature engaged. Will it be possible to turn this (or parts of it) off? if it is just a software difference, would it be possible to engage this at a later stage in time for cash? i.e. order the car without this feature now, and engage it later? I wish everyone a pleasant time ahead :-)
@Martin Ulsaker Your wish list should shrink quickly. Have you thought about the fact, that the Aptera can not be approved for 3-wheeled vehicles in Scandinavia, due to its dimensions.
Thank you for your reply :-) No, I haven't thought about that... don't you think it would be possible to register it as a regular car either?
@Martin Ulsaker
You have to register it as 3 wheeler, please check this with your local registration office.
Ok. I may be able to do that, but it will time before I can do it. I do however think that it will be easier to register it in Sweden than in Norway as the Swedish car authorities are quite a lot easier to handle. On the other hand, electric cars are very popular in Norway and their authorities. May be or become possible in both countries in the future.
@Martin Ulsaker
Norway is number 1 in EV approvals. It would be an important market for Aptera. Should the approval work in Norway, I will apply for Norwegian citizenship 😀
As for Martin's wish list items, nearly all of them already exist or are in the works:
- v2h (Vehicle to Home): Line 13 of Aptera's FAQ Spreadsheet, which is easily searched with Ctrl+F (for "Find") or for Apple use command+F (cmd+F)
- fast or not slow charging at home: Line 3. On home L2, 3.3kW will charge it 125% as fast as most EVs, & 6.6 would be 250% as fast. Sometimes things happen fast, but one could not very easily find oneself coming home out of juice and quickly needing to go out again, since the minimum range available is 625% of the average US daily drive.
- studded tyres: Line 137
- Heated seats, steering wheel, battery: Lines 25 & 76
- trailer hitch: Line 256
- Towing points: Line 52
- which color of the car would be the best for onboard solar charging? Since it's available in each extreme (white & black) with no mention of any difference, it's probably insignificant. Black will waste some cooling energy in summer, but will save on heating in winter. Vice-versa for white.