Aptera Reboot - Improved

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

Plus a $900 option isn't a lot for a $30,000 car. And for someone getting 30mpg in their current car with fuel prices at $4 per gallon, that $1,575 is only 12,000 miles worth of fuel. So compared with a gasoline car, the solar panels pay for themselves in a little over a year.

I typically cut out all the parts of the quote I agree with...

You described the genius of their marketing. A typical consumer will reason that $900 to more than double the solar capacity, and which is less than a months rent, is a fantastic bargain even though it's more than twice the cost of a residential panel.

I actually think it's a fine value for those individuals I mentioned above who are reclusive, rent, and otherwise have extremely high electricity costs. That market might be big enough to sell the quantity needed to make it, who knows?

Comparing the current cost of gasoline in an EV is the wrong level of analysis. The proper analysis is the actual alternative to solar charging, which is plugging in at home. If you've got access to $0.10/kWh from a standard outlet, then the value of 1 kWh of solar electricity is 10 cents.

Of course, it's hard to determine the value of solar electricity if one has no reasonable access to plugging in. That said, there's plenty of alternative vehicles that provide a cramped space for less money and are very fuel efficient.

This vehicle's target audience might be those living in remote parts of the Australian Outback.

Presumably they have invested extra in UV protective paint

[freebeard]

Solar, wind and bodily power are the only powers that don't require a connection to a grid or network,

Imagine this with a Jetopetra power duct.

[samwichse]

The solar package is the difference for me on whether owning an EV is practical. The closest charge point is a pretty decent distance from my house, and I'd have to pay 27c/kwh there. But the solar charging would cover my usage completely with room to spare for 3/4 of the year. Outside of road trips, I could probably get away with charging it as few as 2-3x a year.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Comparing the current cost of gasoline in an EV is the wrong level of analysis.

That said, there's plenty of alternative vehicles that provide a cramped space for less money and are very fuel efficient.

Are we comparing gasoline powered vehicles or not?

You've got a good point for the practicality of the general public. But niche cars tend to have niche owners with niche circumstances.

Sure, I'm better off financially in a 10 year old Honda Fit. Thanks for the info.

But come on, solar panels on a car aren't the root of all evil.

As long as we're ranting on $900 options, I don't understand why so many cars have an AWD option. The dual motors option is some $4,000 more on a Tesla and doesn't add anything practical to the car. And don't start on "if you live where it snows and don't have a paved road to your house" because that's exactly where I live.

If I paid $30,000 or more for a car I'd want one that is cool to me. An Aptera with solar panels is cool to me. It's probably the only EV I would consider at this point. The Bolt and Leaf come close, but knowing how Nissan does batteries and the whole Bolt fire problem have me thinking I'll stick with ICE for now.

[redpoint5]

Solar irradiation is 1/5th in early winter as compared to late spring where I live. It's an inefficient means of gathering diffuse energy.

I hope I'm wrong and Apteria is successful and people find tons of utility in the quirky thing, but if I had to put money down, it would be on the side of utter failure.

Weird niche things are the only way to compete in the very established market of automobiles though, so if they are to survive, it depends on creating a strange market that didn't exist before.

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

...a fantastic bargain even though it's more than twice the cost of a residential panel.

Whataboutism. A conformal OEM panel and a residential panel are very different things.

Reverse tricycles may be niche but it's growing. Polaris, etc.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

A fantastic bargain even though it's more than twice the cost of a residential panel.

The residential panel would also need a building permit, an electrician, and an inverter, and in my case, permission from the landlord.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

The residential panel would also need a building permit, an electrician, and an inverter, and in my case, permission from the landlord.

Solar panels are practically illegal for half the population, some areas are moronic enough to ban panels on purely aesthetic reasons

[freebeard]

You young folk need to have patience. www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rectenna

The mistake all along has been treating light as a particle [with <40% efficiency] instead of as a wave [with 100% efficiency].

Once productized on a roll-to-roll manufacturing process for a conformal product, possibly on the backside of ETFE fil that's hydrophobic/oleophobic so it never needs washing by the lucky owner.... things change.

I don't want to wait. "I want the whole world and I want it now" Veruka Salt

If I make it happen I could a have an FUV parked outside right now. It would involve divesting everything else with wheels. I'd miss the Superbeetle more than the Metro.

Anyways -- Two solar panels about 2x3.5ft on articulated mounts at the rear of the roof. Stored as a convergent duct surrounding the rear wheel. Raised like dragonfly wings with three degrees of movement for solar tracking. Should be a 3x multiplier on the exposed area.

[rmay635703]

Full spectrum panels that generate power day and night have been talked about for 2 decades, in effect you have a bunch of circuits that act harmonically to oscillate with various frequencies including heat, (like microscopic antennas) sadly the cost of building a thick computer processor like solar panel is extremely high due to its complexity.

So simple cheap PV panels are likely here to stay for a good long while