If this is what the vehicle will look like...
As I look at the amount of glass, solar reflective glass on this planned new version of the Aptera.... I can share the following:
I have a vehicle with nearly as much glass. I have found a green product for glass that has made my life easy with cleaning glass... and you only need water!
I use for my huge windows at home too
I have found nothing that is perfect but.... this was a game changer for me.
The way I handle my vehicle cleaning
I power wash the entire vehicle with water only.
In the shade on a cool window...
I wipe the residual water off with a soft old bath towel
I dampen the *Spiff Cloth as recommended, squeezing out the excess water, and clean the glass.
Keeping it green and easy...
✅No product spray
✅No premature drying of product on glass on hot or windy days, (as I can re dampen the cloth)
I use well water or filtered water from my roof water capture tank
I suppose (RO) Reverse Osmosis 💦 may be interesting to try....as that can cut through light oily fingerprints, etc
*This is a reusable cloth, not like paper towels. But they have to be replaced eventually.
I gave one Spiff cloth to my neighbor who has a 700 glass panel greenhouse😔.... She became a believer
assuming solar panel efficiency is considerably affected by dust, dirt etc, or if someone often wants to have their car cleaned (theres a chemical industry on making cars look like they're isolated in a showroom), to help the water bill long term : reuse water used to clean dust off off solar panels with a plastic inflatable kiddie pool that the car is surrounded by, when water flows over it the water is collected and a plastic pump can be used to suck the water up and throw it back onto teh car, the water is stored in the fillings of the plastic pool and is let out into teh pool simultaneously as the plastic walls of teh pool are inflated enough to contain teh water. such a kiddie pool and manual pump system can be sold for any car for people who like keeping their cars showroom clean often and just as a kiddie pool too without the pump.
@Len Here in the deep south I have not only highly-mineralized water, but also intense amounts of pollen, mold and mildew with which to contend: It is commons practice, here, to wash the exterior of one's home with a mild bleach and mildewcide solution annually. I clean my windows with a vinegar/water solution, spraying it on, squeegee-ing it off and then polishing with a microfiber cloth. I do the same with my car windows although, during bug season, it's often necessary to first rub them down with a wet dryer fabric softener sheet - something about the fabric softener loosens dried-on bug innards. I'm also a big believer in treating windshields with Rain-X.
I little vinegar in water is always a great solution!
( I even use Vinegar/Bleach/Water in my gray water tank, for monthly sanitization)
You know what is great to use to soften and remove tar and bug splat (summer) LestOil solution. Let sit and use a bug cleaning fabric/ sponge to apply/remove,then... clean your surface as normal
Rain X may be interesting on Aptera’ sloped Windows!
@Len @Rhynri The Clarity has a steeply-raked windshield and an the rear window even more so: RainX means that I almost never need to use the wipers and the air current over the roof of the car keeps the rear window clear, as well. I suspect it will be equally efficacious on the Aptera.
Even though Founder Chris assured us that "bugs don't stick" I have a feeling that CA bugs haven't a patch on the swarms of "Louisiana Love Bugs" we must plow through each year down this way. Even a short drive can leave the front of any vehicle with a thick, black, velvety layer of insect. I intend, therefore, to treat the Aptera nosecone with Rejex - just as I now do all the leading surfaces of all my vehicles.
@Kerbe #12705, @my_discord_number_is_0328 Use the two-bucket wash technique with Optimum no rinse. I've washed my entire car using just a few gallons of water. The no-rinse helps take care of the hard water issue as well.
@Len - I could see RainX doing crazy fun things on the Aptera based off my previous experiences.
I heard about those Love bugs in a cleaning seminar! Good Luck with that!
Yes she is aerodynamic but expect Bug “ skid marks”
Here is my old 2006 Civic Si, ( I miss it), which I placed a clear 3M film (used on race cars) on the nose and some other vulnerable places...where I used a cleaner/protectant called Plexus that was great!
@Len Ah, that beautiful Honda Cobalt Blue! Yes, if you allow love bugs (they mate while flying, and fly slowly in large swarms, the exhibitionists!) to bake onto your car in sunlight, removing them can actually damage the paint!
@Kerbe #12705 Thx. 🤔Actually I think that year it was Fuji Blue...
Since I am now on primitive roads, so.... I wash my vehicles with just a water via a power washer (very easy on water use, here in the desert using well water😞) . I am going to get a reservoir type pressure washer as I capture water here and treat my well water as if it is gold. Always using broad spray head I use a protectant on it (when water beading is reduced, time to add the protectant
Plan to do the same on Aptera’s vinyl wrap. If it is 3M’s wrap, using at 6” away or more , using a pressure washer under 2000 psi (I think mine is 1600psi) it should be fine.
Pre wetting smashed *bugs and a final sweep with the pressure washer has taken all of here. Desert *bugs😉
Rather than Rain-Xing your windows, just wax them the same way you would for the rest of your car. I use Nu Finish, but any wax will work. Wipe it on, let it haze over, and buff it off. Good to go till the next time you wax your car.
@boreal Nu Finish is a silicone-based polish and Rain-X is a silicone suspension (in alcohol) - but regular wax on glass doesn't cause rain to behave the same way as does Rain-X - plus, wax wears off with every wiper-pass and Rain-X seems to last forever.
@Kerbe #12705 Good to know. I always use Nu Finish, so I assumed other waxes would behave the same. With Nu Finish, my windshield beads rain for an entire year. It's good stuff for the body of the car as well. But, of course, YMMV :-)
@boreal I remember when Nu-Finish was first introduced: The television commercial showed someone applying it to a wrecked car in a junk yard - and the hood and vinyl roof (remember vinyl roofs?) looked good as new - or "nu"!