Aptera Reboot - Improved

[freebeard]

[citation needed] I guess.The part about harmonics and heat needs some explication. Everything silicon based I've seen stacks cells responsive to different wavelengths to get to 40%.

You doubt foil-printable organic transistors? Wikipedia define Rectenna as used in power transmission. As it's used here, combined rectifier and antenna at a nanoscale resonant to light's wavelength.

[rmay635703]

Yeah the printable bandwagon has been around a long time as well.

I have no doubt these contraptions work in the lab but organic printable tend to degrade rapidly out in the environment.

If said cheap efficient device has a life of 1 year or worse <1 month it’s not ready for prime time outside specific use cases (like a solar race)

Love to be proved wrong but the printables have kept coming up for decades and never go anywhere , once I can buy one at Home Depot :0

[freebeard]

Agreed about the life span. I'd love to be proven right. OLED monitors are state of the art.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_bias is a thing. Everything is the same until it's not.

[Isaac Zachary]

You start making things out of organic stuff like soy bean plastics on wires and next thing you know rabbits are chewing on your car...

FOX31 Denver - Pilot says rabbits chewed on wires in his engine disabled his car

CBS Denver - Rabbits Wreaking Havoc On Cars at DIA

Denverite, The Denver Site! - Denver airport rabbits have to eat something, and cars in the economy lot are something

[Rcnesneg]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

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.

Agreed 100%. However, I discovered the Kia/Hyundai Niro/Kona twins (300 mile range for $35k) and got a Niro EV in the meantime until something better comes along. I'd love to have another 3 inches of clearance and AWD but otherwise I've been totally blown away by my little spaceship. Way cheaper long term than my 14 year-old Subaru.

For me, Aptera is about range for price. It promises easy road trips to the most inaccessible parts of Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, etc. Nothing else comes close for under $50,000, much less $35000. If Aptera had no solar whatsoever I'd still get one on the basis of range and efficiency.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by Rcnesneg

For me, Aptera is about range for price. It promises easy road trips to the most inaccessible parts of Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, etc. Nothing else comes close for under $50,000, much less $35000. If Aptera had no solar whatsoever I'd still get one on the basis of range and efficiency.

Ya, I think this is it. And like Redpoint5 said, you can drive for 16 years on $1,500 worth of electricity or solar panels at 10,000 miles per year.

A standard range Tesla would not go the places I go without a ChaDeMO addapter, and even then... Durango (ChaDeMo) to Albuquerque is about 212 miles from station to station with no quick charge in between unless you make a side stop in Farmington, which cuts it down to 183. In a non-Tesla there is no place to quick charge along that over 200 mile route.

The standard range Tesla's range is 272 miles, but if the Nissan Leaf we had is anything to go by, winter travel can cut that in as much as half in the right conditions just from the cold alone. One of the last times I went through New Mexico and southern Colorado I was pushing through pretty deep slush and snow that wasn't at all friendly to the fuel mileage on the Avalon. But at least the Avalon has a 600 mile range in good conditions and their's usually a gas station at least every 60 miles.

I think there needs to be about 3 times the good-weather range than distances between charging stations. A 600 mile range Aptera is less than a base Tesla Model 3 and a 1,000 mile Aptera is cheaper than a long range Tesla Model 3. With charging stations every 200 miles, either would work.

But either that or for me the EV needs to be the around town car with a second gasser for the highway. And around town means it needs to be dirt cheap. Or have both with a plug-in hybrid.

Of course I also question how the Aptera's range will be affected in adverse weather. It could be affected more than usual due to the smaller battery designed for extreme efficiency, not terrible weather.

On the other hand, right now I need a family car, so the Aptera would not work for me, but neither do any EV except plug-in hybrids. If Aptera ever comes out with a 4 or more seater I probably won't need the extra capacity by then. Also by then there might actually be charging stations closer to every 60 miles instead of every 200+.

[redpoint5]

I've been saying for years now that plug-in hybrids are a fantastic bridge technology, but EV purists let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

If everyone were driving 70% of miles on EV, and the rest on petrol, that alone would represent drastic fuel savings, and manufacturing the 16 kWh battery capacity wouldn't be the same problem it is to manufacture a 60-200 kWh pack for a pure EV. Not to mention people wouldn't need to hire an electrician to install a 50 amp outlet since you could just recharge on a standard outlet.

But nuuuooo, we need EVs with 1000 mile range, solar panels, and frickin lasers.

[Isaac Zachary]

A plug-in hybrid could still be charged with solar panels. But I digress.

When I had the Leaf I found lots of places to charge for free. The only public charging station in town is 6kW and free. At work I can plug in my car for 9 months for the block heater. When I had the Leaf I also plugged it in on the same outlet.

However, it's been several months that I've been biking to work instead, except when the weather is really bad.

Another benefit to a plug-in hybrid here in Colorado are the steep long mountainous passes. In the traditional hybrids the battery fills right away. With a bigger battery, as in a plug-in hybrid, more of the downhill energy could be stored for after getting to the bottom of the pass leading to greater efficiency.

I almost got a new Prius Prime instead of the used Avalon. But I don't think I would have gotten much of the federal tax credit back making the car substantially more expensive.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

I almost got a new Prius Prime instead of the used Avalon. But I don't think I would have gotten much of the federal tax credit back making the car substantially more expensive.

My parents are low income, and our income is substantially more. Who "buys" a thing often depends on if it's better to appear that you've got less income, or more. If there's a non-refundable (must have tax liability) tax credit, I'll but the thing. If there's a subsidy for lower income, my parents will "buy" it.

Plenty of legal ways to navigate the complex yet profoundly idiotic tax and subsidy games politicians create.

[Isaac Zachary]

I'll keep that in mind next time I'm in the market for something. The way things are going I'm probably not buying anything any time soon.

The Avalon works and is almost paid off and is still a nice car. I don't see another car being any more practical or nicer enough to justify the cost.

Buying a house would be nice but I don't feel like moving to downtown Detroit just to be able to afford one.