One of the most unique vehicles shown at this year's Consumer Electronics Show was a three-wheeled car that generates some of the electricity it uses through solar energy.
The California-based tech startup and automotive firm Aptera Motors created the one-of-a-kind solar hybrid vehicle — the only one in existence in North America.
“When Chris and I restarted the company, we were doing the calculations. I think we said something like, 'Well, if we just covered the roof, we would get, you know, 10 to 12 miles a day,'” Aptera Motors co-founder Steve Fambro told me on my Driving You Crazy podcast. “And then both of us simultaneously said out loud, 'Well, why wouldn't we just cover the whole thing with solar? What would we get then?' And that answer was up to 40 miles a day in some locations.”
Fambro explained that the 40 miles is supplemented with an onboard battery system that extends the range of the vehicle to 400 miles. He said now was the right time to try solar because new advancements in solar technology made it more feasible now than it was 10 years ago.
“We have a shape that really lends itself to being able to include solar, maybe more than other cars. We hired a team that are able to make 3-D curved solar panels that are also very rugged and lightweight. We had to develop that technology from scratch,” Fambro said.
The car looks like something that you would see flying in a "Star Wars" movie. It holds two people, has a fair amount of cargo space and generates enough electricity through the solar panels that are built into the body to go dozens of miles per day.
“We thought, well, 40 miles per day doesn't seem like a lot, right? Because, you know, you want to be able to take long trips. But, if you have a big battery, you can drive 100 miles, but your daily charge is met by solar — then that felt like a no-brainer for us,” Fambro said.
I asked why hasn’t any other car maker until now tried to use solar energy.
“Because their platforms use too much energy. They're too heavy,” Fambro told me. “On a typical electric vehicle with solar, you might get an extra five or even 10 miles a day. That's not meaningless, but it's a lot of extra cost for very little value. Whereas in our case, the value is most people drive less than 40 miles a day. Statistically, you probably won't have to plug it in or maybe plug it in every few months. That's a game changer for us.”
Aptera Motors is taking pre-orders for the vehicle that is listed for a target price of $40,000 with a $100 reserve down payment. You can hear my entire interview with Steve Fambro on my Driving You Crazy podcast available on any podcast app, online and on YouTube.
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