Doyle
11-03-2008, 09:20 PM
Source article: http://www.hybridcars.com/electric-car
Bradley Berman's e-newsletter on hybrid cars has a list of EVs this month and includes the Aptera.
...Low-Speed and Three-Wheel Electric Cars
The arduous road to delivering a new highway-speed electric vehicle to the market can be bypassed in two primary ways: limiting the electric vehicle to three wheels (so it can be legally classified as a motorcycle) or limiting the vehicles legal top speed to 25 miles per hour (so it can avoid highway crash testing). Those strategies lower the “barrier to entry,” opening the gates to scores of fledgling companies offering some mighty funky machines. It’s a long list, so we’ll keep our descriptions to a minimum. We’ve also eliminated companies that do not provide a base-level of information about products and prices—and products not directly selling in North America.
Aptera Type-1
Winner of the funkiest EV design award, the Aptera Type-1, looks like a cross between a motorcycle and ultralight single-occupant airplane. Built near San Diego, and selling for approximately $27,000, the Aptera Type-1 is competing in the Automotive X Prize competition. Thousands of potential buyers have paid a $500 refundable deposit in anticipation of production in late 2008 or early 2009. The Aptera Type-1 will only be available in California, to allow the company to service the vehicles. A plug-in hybrid version is also being developed. http://www.aptera.com...
Bradley Berman's e-newsletter on hybrid cars has a list of EVs this month and includes the Aptera.
...Low-Speed and Three-Wheel Electric Cars
The arduous road to delivering a new highway-speed electric vehicle to the market can be bypassed in two primary ways: limiting the electric vehicle to three wheels (so it can be legally classified as a motorcycle) or limiting the vehicles legal top speed to 25 miles per hour (so it can avoid highway crash testing). Those strategies lower the “barrier to entry,” opening the gates to scores of fledgling companies offering some mighty funky machines. It’s a long list, so we’ll keep our descriptions to a minimum. We’ve also eliminated companies that do not provide a base-level of information about products and prices—and products not directly selling in North America.
Aptera Type-1
Winner of the funkiest EV design award, the Aptera Type-1, looks like a cross between a motorcycle and ultralight single-occupant airplane. Built near San Diego, and selling for approximately $27,000, the Aptera Type-1 is competing in the Automotive X Prize competition. Thousands of potential buyers have paid a $500 refundable deposit in anticipation of production in late 2008 or early 2009. The Aptera Type-1 will only be available in California, to allow the company to service the vehicles. A plug-in hybrid version is also being developed. http://www.aptera.com...