An intriguing image!

Kerbe

Kerbe

Well-Known Member
Aptera just released this image of a rolling chassis, viewed from the middle and looking forward. The suspension and steering components are in place but (if the fact that the orange power cables are coiled and one can see straight through where the motor should be mounted) but the motor and battery modules are not. Aptera appears to be moving forward, one assembly step at a time!
chassis.webp
 
I used to work on the assembly line in Wixom, MI, building Lincolns and Thunderbirds. However, cars destined for "customers" with surnames like "Ford," weren't manufactured on the assembly line. Instead, there was a guy who would come by and take parts from our assembly-line supply to his own special room. There, he would hand-build an entire Lincoln Continental (he only built those cars, AFAIK) all by himself. I was amazed to realize there was someone who knew that much about those cars.

It's great to see Aptera finally transitioning from a single, hand-built EV to the assembly line they've been planning for so long.

Thanks to Aptera's suppliers providing larger and more complex components, there are fewer separate parts required to assemble a 2026 Aptera in Carlsbad than a 1969 Lincoln in Wixom, so Apera's modern assembly line will be much shorter. I and 50,000 reservation holders would enjoy seeing a time-lapse video showing the full process when Aptera's assembly line begins working to fill that backlog.
 
brianc35 said:
oh wow, you have a reservation? i didn't know you were considering one of these.
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If you use someone's referral code a reservation costs only $70 and, because California law requires such funds to be held in escrow, it's fully-refundable. Need a referral code? Just use the QR code to the left... ;)
 
brianc35 said:
oh wow, you have a reservation? i didn't know you were considering one of these.
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Sorry, I wasn't clear about that. I would have jumped in line to buy an Aptera back in 2000 when I acquired the first Honda Insight in Michigan (S/N #221). However, I'm now doubting the Aptera be the ideal ride for Michigan winters. I still wanna see a time-lapse video of the Aptera production line in full-swing.

It's gonna take some large people with long crowbars to pry my fingers off the steering wheel of my MINI Cooper SE.
 
Kerbe said:
Why is that? The prototype seemed to do very well on the snow and ice in Switzerland - and I'm sure the production vehicle will improve upon that one's abilities...
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The way the snow could pack up inside the rear spats on my gen-1 Insights makes me suspect the same thing could happen with the faired wheels of the Aptera. Once, the right-rear spat left the car when the rear cavities were packed with snow and I hit a pothole.

1764946778612.webp
 
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insightman said:
The way the snow could pack up inside the rear spats on my gen-1 Insights makes me suspect the same thing could happen with the faired wheels of the Aptera.
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We know that won't be an issue with Aptera's front wheels because the wheel pants travel with the wheels and have only a small internal clearance around the tire - but we've never seen the interior of the rear wheel skirt so, I assume, it's one of those area of design that will be adjusted during validation. Aptera has stated that they intend to do "winter" testing: If snow impaction proves to be an issue I'd trust that they'll find some way to alleviate it.
 
Kerbe said:
the wheel pants travel with the wheels and have only a small internal clearance around the tire
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So it won't take much heavy, wet snow to fill that space before it freezes and expands when the temperature drops a few degrees. I'll admit snow-packing inside the wheel spats wasn't a chronic problem with my Insights, but when the conditions were just right...
 
insightman said:
So it won't take much heavy, wet snow to fill that space before it freezes and expands when the temperature drops a few degrees. I'll admit snow-packing inside the wheel spats wasn't a chronic problem with my Insights, but when the conditions were just right...
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With only about 2" of clearance around the tire, I think rotational friction will produce enough heat to keep that small space from packing with anything. Plus, if anything was able to accumulate, the movement of the wheel pants would probably shake it loose! I'm not trying to be Pollyanna but, considering the experienced design and engineering minds that have worked on all phases of the Aptera's development, I can't imagine that none of them have ever given this issue any thought. If the co-CEOs noticed any snow packing in the pants or skirt while driving the prototype vehicle during the winter in Switzerland, do you honestly think the wouldn't have said something to someone about it?
 
Kerbe said:
With only about 2" of clearance around the tire, I think rotational friction will produce enough heat to keep that small space from packing with anything. Plus, if anything was able to accumulate, the movement of the wheel pants would probably shake it loose! I'm not trying to be Pollyanna but, considering the experienced design and engineering minds that have worked on all phases of the Aptera's development, I can't imagine that none of them have ever given this issue any thought. If the co-CEOs noticed any snow packing in the pants or skirt while driving the prototype vehicle during the winter in Switzerland, do you honestly think the wouldn't have said something to someone about it?
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I had only one catastrophic snow-packing experience. No other Insight owners on the forums I frequented echoed my complaint. Hopefully, all Aptera drivers who drive in snow country will encounter only Swiss snow.
 
I think this will only be a fair weather vehicle, not good in snow, and certainly not off-road. That is if it even makes it to a production vehicle. Can't see it selling many.

If it had been designed and built by BRP, then it might have a chance...
 
R P said:
I think this will only be a fair weather vehicle, not good in snow, and certainly not off-road.
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There are still those who claim you can't drive EVs in the rain... And the VAST majority of vehicles made - including SUVs - aren't designed for or capable of going off-road yet they are still perfectly suitable vehicles.
 
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