{"id":529794,"date":"2010-04-16T12:05:43","date_gmt":"2010-04-16T16:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.caranddriver.com\/?p=18927"},"modified":"2010-04-16T12:05:43","modified_gmt":"2010-04-16T16:05:43","slug":"2011-aptera-2e-design-finalized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/529794","title":{"rendered":"2011 Aptera 2e Design Finalized"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nCalifornia-based Aptera has been teasing us for upwards of two years now with images and even a prototype test-drive<\/a> of its two-seat, teardrop-shaped 2e. (Some of us think the teardrop resembles a few other things, too\u2014particularly in white\u2014but we shant go there.) While the overall form has remained pretty consistent, the details have changed numerous times in the interests of safety, comfort, and engineering. At an airplane hanger in Carlsbad, California, Aptera rolled out what it claims is the final<\/em> final design. The company says it will begin production in the spring of 2011.<\/p>\n

Back in December, we got official images<\/a> of the refined machine, and seeing it in the flesh brought few surprises. As we reported, the latest evolution brings a new hood, fender skirts, beefy new suspension arms, larger outside mirrors, roll-down windows, and a redesigned tail that features a crumple zone (as does the front). The target coefficient of drag is 0.15, and according to chief engineer Tom Reichenbach, the car has met and beat that target. Other important newly released details include a target weight of 1800 pounds (476 of which are accounted for by the 20-kWh lithium-ion phosphate battery pack) distributed roughly evenly between the three wheels.<\/p>\n

Unlike the battery packs in many electric vehicles, which operate within a truncated state-of-charge range, never fully charging or discharging, the battery pack in the 2e is allowed to charge and deplete fully without risk of premature degradation, according to Aptera. We\u2019ll go ahead and log our skepticism here. Either Aptera has the wrong approach to batteries, or everyone else in the world does.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The range estimates still call for 100 miles between charges. Aptera claims that the 2e\u2019s rate of energy consumption is equal to 200 mpg, and will cost owners about 2 cents per mile. It also is said to have only half the well-to-wheels carbon footprint of the Toyota Prius.<\/p>\n

Though the 2e is technically a trike\u2014a classification that comes with a separate set of safety standards\u2014Reichenbach states that he wants to meet all safety requirements that the government places on four-wheeled passenger cars. He cites the fitment of front and side (head and thorax) airbags, side-impact beams in the doors, and a roll hoop integrated into the composite body.<\/p>\n

Aptera says that 90 percent of the 2e\u2019s parts and pieces will come from domestic suppliers, and provided a detailed list of companies including Pratt & Miller and Continental Tires, as well as the New Jersey\u2013based NRG utility company. NRG supplied Aptera with funding to keep it going until government assistance\u2014some $184 million worth\u2014gets approved. That is but one of the hurdles that Aptera must clear before production can begin, but if it does, Californians could start seeing Apteras on the roads in about a year, with distribution likely spreading to other regions in 2012.<\/p>\n

Related posts:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. 2011 Aptera 2e – Official Images<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. 2010 Aptera 2e – First Drive Review<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Shocker . . . NOT! Ambitious Aptera Delays 2e Electric Car, Reduces Staff<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    California-based Aptera has been teasing us for upwards of two years now with images and even a prototype test-drive of its two-seat, teardrop-shaped 2e. (Some of us think the teardrop resembles a few other things, too\u2014particularly in white\u2014but we shant go there.) While the overall form has remained pretty consistent, the details have changed numerous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6402,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mobile","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6402"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529794\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}