Found 2 Apteras waiting for TED. MEASUREMENTS & Pics!

[josh]

Strolled around the TED conference area tonite and in a PUBLIC parking garage near the venue, lookie what I found.

Two Apteras, ready for their big debut tomorrow.


I'm guessing since this garage was open to the public and the cars weren't covered or anything, that Aptera isn't concerned about pictures or info getting out. There was a very friendly guard and I did ask him if I was allowed to take pictures and he said to go ahead, that his instructions were to make sure no one touched the cars, but he had no instructions about pictures or measurements, so long as I could do it without touching.

The two cars were very clearly the same 2e that Apt2123h saw, and an older prototype vehicle, the one without the rear 3/4 windows and with the cameras all around and the green seats. There's a VERY noticeable height difference, which you'll see from the photos of the two cars lined up next to each other.

I doubt the photos will give any new info, after the wonderful pictures that Apt2123h and KarenRei have already posted this week.

BUT, here's the big news. I brought a tape measure!
And while the guard watched, I was able to measure the vehicle WITHOUT touching it. And have photos to show the exact dimensions.

OK, here's what I got:

• Width: precisely 91" across. (7' 7"). I know that won't make some of you happy... but I'm quite certain. That's from outer wheel skirt to outer wheel skirt.... measured with a tape measure laid under the vehicle in front of the tires.
  
  The other dimensions were tougher to get without touching the car, so I won't claim they're 100% accurate, but very close.

• LENGTH: 14' 10" long, (only a close approximation, my tape measure was 10' long so had to measure twice and had to eyeball start and end points next to the car so i wouldn't touch it.)

• HEIGHT: about 52" tall. (rough approximation - had to just try to visually line it up against a tape measure next to the car... tough with the highly curved roof.

(The older prototype next to it was a full 4" taller. Looks even more than that, quite a visible difference in height as you'll see from the pics).

That's the report tonite... hope that's helpful. Looking forwad to my test ride or drive tomorrow... and will report back what I can.

--josh
p.s. sorry for the bad photo quality... this is late at night under ugly fluorescent lights with a point-and-shoot digicam. Did my best to adjust white balance for the light, but it wasn't ideal! Will be better in the sunlight tomorrow.

[NeilBlanchard]

Thanks Josh!

Originally Posted by josh

And have photos to show the exact dimensions.

OK, here's what I got:

• Width: precisely 91" across. (7' 7"). I know that won't make some of you happy... but I'm quite certain. That's from outer wheel skirt to outer wheel skirt.... measured with a tape measure laid under the vehicle in front of the tires.
  
  The other dimensions were tougher to get without touching the car, so I won't claim they're 100% accurate, but very close.

• LENGTH: 14' 10" long, (only a close approximation, my tape measure was 10' long so had to measure twice and had to eyeball start and end points next to the car so i wouldn't touch it.)

• HEIGHT: about 52" tall. (rough approximation - had to just try to visually line it up against a tape measure next to the car... tough with the highly curved roof.

(The older prototype next to it was a full 4" taller. Looks even more than that, quite a visible difference in height as you'll see from the pics).

That's the report tonite... hope that's helpful. Looking forwad to my test ride or drive tomorrow... and will report back what I can.

So, the earlier estimates based on the floor tiles were pretty close, and the narrowing is maybe an inch or two. And they had an 8' trailer...

If you uploaded photos, they are not showing up for me.

[Edit: thanks for uploading them! On the height, my estimate on the change (based on tracing the profile) was pretty darn close...]

[josh]

See how much taller the older prototype was.

[josh]

[josh]

Doing my measurements:






It looks like it's about 90.5" here, but that wheel skirt still curves out a little bit more to the right of where this picture ends, so I'm calling it 91".

[josh]

Notice the differences in the struts and mechanicals to the wheels from the prototype to the "production" model...

[josh]

[josh]

[josh]

Those are the best of the shots I got tonite.

More are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/2122198...7613305565560/

and hopefully lots more sunny pictures tomorrow.

--josh

[APTERA 2356]

Great job Josh,

This should put to rest the width and legnth issues.
I also noticed the new typ 2e doesn't have the wheels blocked. ( parking prawl? )