Shining on!

[Kerbe]

An image of the headlight installed in the Carbon Fiber SMC structural "nose" of one of the Aptera validation vehicles. This body has not yet been mated with its aluminum chassis or drivetrain. Three of the five LED elements in the headlight are the "low beam" while the remaining two are the "high beam." As Aptera is classified as either an autocycle or a motorcycle, the headlight will be "always on."

 

[insightman]

As Aptera is classified as either an autocycle or a motorcycle, the headlight will be "always on."

Are autocycles/motorcycles required to have a centrally located headlight? Will all 3 low beam elements always be on?

With the Aptera's central headlight and its two running lights spread 7 feet apart, it will certainly not be mistaken for any other vehicle in the dark!

 

[Kerbe]

Are autocycles/motorcycles required to have a centrally located headlight? Will all 3 low beam elements always be on?

With the Aptera's central headlight and its two running lights spread 7 feet apart, it will certainly not be mistaken for any other vehicle in the dark!

Motorcycles/Autocycles are required to have a central, white headlight. They can have more than one, but those lights must be very close to one another and very close to the centerline of the vehicle.

So far as we know, yes - the low beams will be on at all times (although they're planning to include the ability to switch them off if the vehicle is parked but you're still in it.

Aptera's nose - where the DLRs are mounted - is between 3' and 4' wide: We don't know for certain if the lights on the front wheel pants (Aptera-speak) are running lights or just directionals - but we do know that they include reflectors.

 

[insightman]

Motorcycles/Autocycles are required to have a central, white headlight. They can have more than one, but those lights must be very close to one another and very close to the centerline of the vehicle.

So far as we know, yes - the low beams will be on at all times (although they're planning to include the ability to switch them off if the vehicle is parked but you're still in it.

Aptera's nose - where the DLRs are mounted - is between 3' and 4' wide: We don't know for certain if the lights on the front wheel pants (Aptera-speak) are running lights or just directionals - but we do know that they include reflectors.

Thanks for the clarification. I assumed the DRLs were on the wheel pants with the directionals, only because that's where I would have put them to make it clear to oncoming traffic how wide the Aptera is (a foot wider than my Honda Clarity)

 

[Kerbe]

Thanks for the clarification. I assumed the DRLs were on the wheel pants with the directionals, only because that's where I would have put them to make it clear to oncoming traffic how wide the Aptera is (a foot wider than my Honda Clarity)

Aptera's DRLs are the white "smile" across its nose. The lights on the wheel pants are more or less along their center-line, not at their outter edge so really don't describe the full width of the vehicle. Aptera is significantly less wide than a pick-up truck and most road lanes are at least 12 feet in width - which leaves about 2.5 feet on either side of the vehicle when it's in the middle of its lane. People don't usually make a practice of driving into the lane of oncoming traffic, nor do they usually park in more than one parking space at a time. Perhaps its that I learned to drive in full-size GM sedans and full-size vans back in the 70s, but I'm not in the least bit intimidated by Aptera being a wide vehicle. (Your Clarity, btw, is 86" wide if you include the side mirrors - so that's a 2 inch, not a 12 inch, difference in width.)

 

[insightman]

People don't usually make a practice of driving into the lane of oncoming traffic

Unless they're reckless drivers who believe they have just enough space to pass a vehicle impeding their high-speed pleasure. I'd want my Aptera to look (nearly) as wide as it is at night.

 

[Kerbe]

Unless they're reckless drivers who believe they have just enough space to pass a vehicle impeding their high-speed pleasure. I'd want my Aptera to look (nearly) as wide as it is at night.

So people try to pass you in the same lane as your vehicle - they don't pull into another lane to pass you? Are they trying to sideswipe your vehicle?

 

[insightman]

So people try to pass you in the same lane as your vehicle - they don't pull into another lane to pass you? Are they trying to sideswipe your vehicle?

No, I worry about a reckless passer coming towards me in my lane, believing there's lots of room between the car being passed and my narrow motorcycle.