Aptera Typ-1, #824
Your Name, Your Work
When I was in training at the FAA Air Traffic Controller Academy in Oklahoma City in the spring of ‘77 I took a tour of the National Weather Service office next door. I’m sure I saw things that were both important and relevant to my work but somehow the only thing I remember is the plaque on the wall with the name of the then director of the NWS: Charles W. Sprinkle. Somehow that stuck.
Likewise, while reading 1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles - $10 Million: The Race to Build the Supergreen Car in the current issue of Wired I had the same feeling: the chief aerodynamicist at Aptera, a Carlsbad, CA startup trying to build a very fuel-efficient car is named in the article as Miles Wheeler. The guy responsible for extending the range of a low-power, high-mileage, 3-wheeled motorcycle is named Miles? And his last name is Wheeler? Really? “Miles, I’d like you to meet my friend Charles W. Sprinkle…”
Green + Green
Now I have been very happily driving my Honda Insight for the last 75,000 miles, and I have averaged just under 55 MPG. I fill up about once a month, and this means that I’m being green in two ways: environmentally and economically. When compared to a more common 22 MPG, in addition to all the CO2 I didn’t emit, I have saved about $6,000 during that time just in fuel. Not bad, but the Aptera Typ-1 will likely more than double that fuel economy.
Aptera Typ-1
It is planned to come in two flavors: all-electric and plug-in hybrid [PHEV]. The electric-only flavor is expected to have a range of about 120 miles. It is probably too early to tell what the expected “average” fuel economy will be for the PHEV version but homebrew, plug-in conversions of the Toyota Prius increase mileage significantly - folks are talking roughly 100 MPG. And yes, even when you take into account the upstream pollution from the power plants supplying the electricity for the overnight charge, CO2 emissions are reduced. Of course, if you generate the juice from PV panels on the roof there is zero upstream pollution, and zero recurring cost.
Automotive X Prize - AXP
Aptera is also competing for the AXP, a $10M prize designed to stimulate the production of “viable, clean and super-efficient cars that people want to buy.”
Gonna Get One
So this is just too good: the company and factory is just down the road, so when issues arise [they will] dealing with them shouldn’t be too painful. I still have room on the roof for additional PV panels, which will be able to power this car and probably a few others if some neighbors want to “tank up” with clean, free, abundant fuel. The PHEV is going to sell for just under $30,000 and is expected to go into production in about a year.
I just put down a deposit for an Aptera Typ-1, delivery position #824. Looks like I have some time to add the panels.
December 26th, 2007 at 8:30 am
I am right behind you with my delivery position of #829. I have been reading everything I could find on the Aptera in the last 3 hours. Most of the blogs dated before october-november were dominated by naysayers who could not say anything positive about the Aptera. But with the updated Aptera web site, the naysayers seem to have disappeared into the woodwork.
I became interested in EV autos after driving several of them at the Electric Vehicle Symposiun 23 December 2. At the show I bought the book “Plug-in Hybrids The Cars That Will Recharge America.
After getting home and searching the web for EV’s, I found the Aptera EV. With my enthusiasm for an EV I finally convenced my wife to let me make a deposit for the Aptera Typ- 1.
With the global warming situation, Plug-in Hybrids and EV’s seem to be the best way to go. I am seriously considering some PV panels to really make the Aptera shine.
December 26th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
The economics of PVs make good sense today in many areas. You may want to look at an earlier post here, http://blog.kucheck.net/2007/06/09/cordero-has-gone-solar/ for details.
This 24-panel system is supplying much of the need of 5 adults. I can’t wait to eliminate my use of gasoline for something as simple as moving around on the surface of the earth. ;>)