Riding a motorcycle, I've never noticed lane position making a difference in ride comfort on paved roads. We favor the driver's side wheel track for other reasons, including vision, visibility, & traction (less oil), but not ride comfort.
As Jay Leno said, when he drove the initial Aptera iteration, "If you got in this vehicle and you didn't know it was three wheels, you'd think it was four wheels"
@barry Doesn't every 2+ wheeled vehicle? I rarely see potholes that are small enough to straddle with a 4-wheeled car. Speedbumps and other such obstructions usually cross an entire lane. I usually change lanes to avoid exploded tires, bags of trash, boxes or pieces of wood lying on the road - or slow down and drive around them.
I'm not sure about the comfort aspect, but it should definitely help with efficiency. Ridge-Riding is a well-documented hypermiling technique in existing hybrid and high-efficiency vehicles, and I assume the same benefits would apply to the Aptera, with the third wheel riding in a typically higher, drier and less worn part of the road.
That reminds me of another reason motorbikes favor the left track: It's drier because the car ahead of you pushed the water off with its tires, & there's more evaporation due to the heat of all the tires. This may not match someone's documents, but it matches real world results.
Riding a motorcycle, I've never noticed lane position making a difference in ride comfort on paved roads. We favor the driver's side wheel track for other reasons, including vision, visibility, & traction (less oil), but not ride comfort.
As Jay Leno said, when he drove the initial Aptera iteration, "If you got in this vehicle and you didn't know it was three wheels, you'd think it was four wheels"
jay also said that you hit every bump with one wheel or another.
@barry Doesn't every 2+ wheeled vehicle? I rarely see potholes that are small enough to straddle with a 4-wheeled car. Speedbumps and other such obstructions usually cross an entire lane. I usually change lanes to avoid exploded tires, bags of trash, boxes or pieces of wood lying on the road - or slow down and drive around them.
Just guessing but I think the center wheel would run smoother, as the ruts created by trucks would not be a factor for this wheel...
I'm not sure about the comfort aspect, but it should definitely help with efficiency. Ridge-Riding is a well-documented hypermiling technique in existing hybrid and high-efficiency vehicles, and I assume the same benefits would apply to the Aptera, with the third wheel riding in a typically higher, drier and less worn part of the road.
That reminds me of another reason motorbikes favor the left track: It's drier because the car ahead of you pushed the water off with its tires, & there's more evaporation due to the heat of all the tires. This may not match someone's documents, but it matches real world results.