Rollovers and Aptera

[pk-sd]

Since in have been in SUV that rolled over 3 time on the freeway, I am very cautious about what I am going to ride. I call them ROV; roll over vehicle.

Has anyone seen anything or heard anything from Aptera that would tell us how susceptible is Aptera to rollovers. I do realize Aptera appears to have low CG but it’s also a 3-wheeler.

Aptera website states:

“Typ-1 roof is designed to EXCEED rollover strength requirements spelled out in FMVSS……….”

But it does not say how stable it is as compared to other 4-door sedans on the road right now.

[pk-sd]

"When automakers experimented with this design in the past, they usually worked with a delta formation -- one wheel in the front and two wheels in the back. The problem with the delta formation has to do with what's called a velocity vector. Every moving object has its own velocity vector. The velocity vector of a car driving north on a highway can simply be described as north -- think of an imaginary line pointing straight from the front of the vehicle. If you turn to the left, however, the vector velocity shifts, and shifting too far outside of the wheelbase when turning can flip a delta configuration. A tadpole formation like the Aptera's -- two wheels in front and one wheel in back -- will keep a vehicle’s velocity vector between those two front wheels and significantly decrease chances of rolling over."

[LQUAN]

The wheelbase is arranged such that the wheels are almost at equal distance from each other - equilateral triangle. Center of gravity is low and right at the center of the "triangle". It can't get anymore stable than that. The car won't flip or roll over easily, but it will slip and slide easier than 4-wheeler due to less friction from wheels to ground. The upside is that it has low rolling friction for efficency.

[futura]

Nice article (quoting another article) here:
http://blog.autospeed.com/2007/11/13/three-wheel-cars/
I found this very encouraging.
If accurate, it bodes very well for Aptera's stability. Also check out the cornering video from Fuel Vapor Tech. 1.7 g's!
http://www.fuelvaporcar.com/

Cheers.

[pk-sd]

Nice article (quoting another article) here:
http://blog.autospeed.com/2007/11/13/three-wheel-cars/
I found this very encouraging.
If accurate, it bodes very well for Aptera's stability. Also check out the cornering video from Fuel Vapor Tech. 1.7 g's!
http://www.fuelvaporcar.com/

Cheers.


Thanks you. Good read indeed. I feel better now.

In summary. Low CG is the key. Which Aptera seem to have......

"The answer is not in the number of wheels, or their location, but in mass, tires and polar movement. The effect of polar movement has been considered for years, but this is the first report I have seen with actual figures. The 3-wheelers had, on the average, about 30 percent less polar movement (normalized for weight) than 4-wheelers, because of centralized masses and less overhang. And the ones with the lowest figures and best tires had the quickest response. Van Valkenburgh says that some of the 3-wheelers had yaw characteristics akin to those of formula cars."

[3-4-me]

Very good read, thanks for posting.

[qpham63]

We could debate as to what is inherently safe or unsafe. Bottom line is there is a safety feature that comes with most vehicles and that is called the operator. I have never rolled a car or an SUV or a pick up truck or anything that I have driven. I have come close to buying the big farm in the sky on two wheels but through no fault of my own but rather my cohabitants of the roadway.

So even in a very low CG and wide stance vehicle, you can certainly roll them over if you went off the road into the rough.

My friend's son just rolled his little Civic over doing just that when he went off the freeway interchange onto soft green soggy grass and over correct while negatively banked. Well, good thing is that he is still alive to be mad about having to take the bus to school.

I am pretty sure that the people on this forum is more likely not going to roll these things over because they would be looking at the T-REX instead of these E or H types.:p

Nothing wrong with that but with rubber/asphalt burning type performance comes slightly higher inherent risk.:rolleyes:

[KarenRei]

My friend's son just rolled his little Civic over doing just that when he went off the freeway interchange onto soft green soggy grass and over correct while negatively banked.

I rolled over the exact same way in my Saturn, although I had the excuse of icy highways and thick snow in the shoulder ;) I had a complete 360-degree rollover -- it ended up on its wheels at the bottom of the ditch. I'm amazed how well the Saturn held up -- like the Aptera, it has a sort of "safety cage" construction, and it worked beautifully. Only the driver's side window shattered; the front windshield was completely undamaged, as was the roof. I bet my '86 Olds would have collapsed.

[pk-sd]

We could debate as to what is inherently safe or unsafe. Bottom line is there is a safety feature that comes with most vehicles and that is called the operator.


That would be true if you were the only person driving on the road on a perfectly graded road in sunny 70 degrees weather (In San Diego it usually is:) all the time.

Since its not always up to you decide that you are going to have an accident. It makes sense to buy or ride in a vehicle that are inherently less likely to roll.

In our case, it was my friend who was driving his Nissan Xterra, it had just started to rain, we were on an off-ramp that had some mud running from the side of the hill. We were driving well within our speed limit. After we stopped rolling over, all four of us climbed out with not even a scratch.

Fact: Safest SUV/ROVs is more likely to rollover than the worst sedan.

If Apetra is like an SUV in that respect (highly unlikely; fingers crossed) then I would like my $500 back. Let #1659 take my car (#1658 is my friend that rolled over his Xterra;) ).


Good article on SUV rollover.
http://mb-soft.com/public/rollover.html