From the TED, Seth Godin tries the Aptera 3 Wheels 2 Seats Car

[admin]

This is not the much awaited video from Josh, but it is a nice video that someone else got from the TED.

[Matthijs]

What's thats noise just when the Aptera is driving off from a stop?

"0-60 in 8 seconds but we like to undersell?" Looks like the Aptera is very quick with a low powered configuration. And you need to wear your seatbelt any time you want to drive off.

And when the guy asks where he has to put his kinds Marques says: "We will get you at the 4-series".

Also a hint on more colors available.

[D Jetson]

Where's the Aptera? All I saw was a hot lookin brunette

[KarenRei]

Transcript:

Q: I don't know where I'm going to put my kids.
A: We'll get you in the 4-series.

(laughter)

This is the Aptera 2e. Aptera is a new vehicle company based out of San Diego County, California. What Aptera is doing is approaching vehicle design in a fundamentally different way. So, typically when we talk about vehicle design, we start off with the concept of the style of the vehicle first, right? We design a very beautiful and organic form, and then we shove occupants into it, we shove in cargo and engines and so on and so forth, and we really worry about efficiency way downstream.

What the team at Aptera is trying to do is start from the other end of the equation. So we started off with the question of, what was the most efficient way to take two people from point A to point B. Now, two people is the way we decided to lead because 78% of the time, there's only two people or less in a vehicle, from Monday to Friday. So, we started off with a two passenger vehicle, and then we use a very simple formula. The formula is: aerodynamics plus lightweight plus safety equals Aptera's definition of efficiency.

So, we start with Aerodynamics because we know that at highway speeds, the average vehicle uses 50% of its energy just to move air out of the way. 50% of your energy is wasted, because the normal automobile is the equivalent of a flying brick. We started down the path of how to find the most aerodynamically superior shape possible that can carry two occupants and cargo. Where the average vehicle has a drag coefficient of between .28 and .3, the Aptera has a drag coefficient of .15, which means that we are able to take all of that energy that would normally be used to push air and reuse it and redisperse it inside the vehicle or not use it at all. Which is ultimately what we're trying to do when we talk about saving energy and conservation.

The second piece of our equation is lightweight. So we use a lightweight composite architecture. It's not built of steel. The benefit that we get from that is I could have very very light weight, very high strength, but I don't give up anything on safety. So, this composite architecture, actually I could have you stand on the vehicle with a sledgehammer and you can beat on it and it will not make a dent. You might scuff the paint, but that would be the worst.

And that plays into the next part of the equation. The last part of the equation is safety. So when we start talking about safety, what we're really trying to talk about is the things that are inside the cabin -- the occupants in particular -- we want to keep them protected and isolated from any potential harm. So the first way you do that is by making the vehicle dynamically superior so you can avoid having accidents in the first place.

(brief aside while the cameraman gets into the car)

So the vehicle has a very low-slung stance. Weight is low and forward in the vehicle, and you see that the track is very wide. A lot of people see the three wheels and say, "Oh, the thing is tippy! I think it's going to tip over!" No, actually the vehicle is capable of going through corners at about the same rate as a Porsche Boxer. With the weight low and forward in the vehicle, it keeps the weight over top of the drive wheels and helps the vehicle to perform better in all kinds of weather.

Q) Will there be brighter, shinier colors?
A) Oh yeah! We'll make it stand out a little bit more than

Q) So is it available now?
A) No, it'll be available at the end of the year.

Q) How much?
A) The price range on the vehicle goes from $25,000 to $40,000. So inside of that there's a number of different powertrains and there's also a lot of different options. One thing that Aptera is doing that is different than a lot of the other vehicle companies is that we're not focusing only on a single powertrain. We don't know... I'd like to say that I know exactly what the world is going to need ten years from now, but I honestly don't think that I do. Three years ago there were people trying to convince us that E85 ethanol was the savior of the universe. So what we said was, let's attack the fundamental questions of architecture that affects everybody. Because if you can make the architecture have greater efficiency, you can create more efficient powertrains and you end up more efficient as a whole.

Now, we spent a lot of time talking about efficiency. Inside the vehicle is designed for a long travel, nice comfortable seats, they hold you in place. We have cupholders, the radio, the AC, you know, all the standard accoutrements that you would expect in a vehicle.

Q) And how about speed?
A) Now, this vehicle, the 2e is a two passenger electric -- so 2-series electric vehicle, and has a top speed of 90 miles an hour. It accelerates from 0 to 60 in less than 10 seconds... it's actually a little less than 8 seconds, but we like to undersell. Like we said, the vehicle corners about like a Porsche Boxter -- the normal one, not the S one, it has some different stuff on it -- and has a braking distance that's a little bit shorter than that of a Mustang GT. So the vehicle is very very dynamically capable.

Now again, we talk about safety. On the rear we have a rear impact zone. On the front we have a front impact zone, crumple zone. On the side you have side impact door beams. The difference between this and a steel body car is when steel comes into impact, steel actually deforms. So there's the potentially to have really bad accidents, you've seen people get pinned inside a vehicle. That doesn't happen here. This composite, when it deforms, it deforms plastically. So that means when you hit it, when the force is released, it will bounce right back. Which means that if you have a bad situation, you can actually get the occupant out. Inside, the seatbelts will hold you in place, the airbags will augment that to make sure that your head doesn't bump into anything badly, and oh, by the way, we're not going to let you start the vehicle unless the seatbelt is on anyway because we know that the seatbelt is the number one safety device inside of a vehicle.

Now we talk about three wheels, and a lot of people say again, you have a certain (inaudible). The three wheeled architecture... actually, getting rid of the fourth wheel, we reduce the frontal area...

You got it, people -- braking distance, cornering speed, and a faster 0-60 that backs up what the people who've driven/ridden in it have stated.

I'm not fond of the seatbelt interlock, though. I generally put on my seatbelt while I'm backing out of my driveway.

[Dubito]

the salesman said price was 25k-40k, not mid 40s.

[butter]

Fantastic video -- it's just like we were there, minus the entrance fee! It was nice to hear Marques give his spiel.

[DonC]

Originally Posted by KarenRei

You got it, people -- braking distance, cornering speed, and a faster 0-60 that backs up what the people who've driven/ridden in it have stated.

I'm not fond of the seatbelt interlock, though. I generally put on my seatbelt while I'm backing out of my driveway.

You are on these transcripts. Do you use ViaVoice or do you actually type them up? If the latter then you have some fast fingers.

I look at the specs and options quite differently than you do. They have several different powertrains. That's good. But what does this mean for the specs? Is the faster 0-60 for the top end powertrain? Perhaps more importantly, is the "up to 100 miles" range the range for the top end powertrain? If so, how about for the entry level powertrain. Will that deliver slower times and a more limited range?

The range is an issue because 100 miles on the spec sheet is not going to be 100 miles in the real world. Sometimes more. But often less.

I agree the seat belt is a pain. I always use one but the entire parent attitude is annoying. They need to make this an option.

[KarenRei]

I agree that greater clarity on range would be quite appreciated. I think each of us are going to argue our views on what they meant until we're blue in the face without getting any closer to the truth.

In general, I wouldn't expect to see the stats given for a vehicle be the stats given for when the vehicle is maxed out on options, but you never know.

[n_dawg]

Well, this confirms that the second "2e" is Zen with a new dashboard. Notice the "+" accelerators and the old interior door design. I highly doubt that this is an intermediate design – the styles completely clash.

It jives with everything else, given that it still features the three-camera system, no mirrors, and the higher stance.