Aptera 120 mile range plug-in electric vehicle
 

Lots of interesting ideas and technology in this Aptera Typ-1e electric vehicle ($27,000). It plugs into normal 110v and has a 120 mile range.

They also have a hybrid version, the Typ-1h that does 300 miles per gallon ($30,000). A traditional 4 wheeled version is also in the works.

http://media.popularmechanics.com/im...8-doors-up.jpg

http://media.popularmechanics.com/im...ra-6-trunk.jpg

http://media.popularmechanics.com/im...5-interior.jpg

Check out the video on Popular Mechanics.

It looks like it wants to be an airplane.

I'd own that... And drive it too!

I think it's impressive that a small company could come out with such an "out of the box" product and offer it a such a low price. The engineering involved in creating and manufacturing is substantial. They've done some clever things to keep costs low.

I also expect the look of the vehicle is intentional to get people's attention. More than likely, the planned 4 wheel version will be more conventional.

It's worth keeping an eye on these guys to see what they come up with.

I would love to have an electric vehicle that can get 150 highway miles on a charge, but I definitely don't want it to get people's attention.

One of the purposes of Marketing is to get people's attention. If their first product looked like a Ford Pinto it wouldn't create any buzz in the marketplace.

Looks like Diptera rather than Aptera.

New battery technology:

http://www.fireflyenergy.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=273&Itemid=100

A spinoff from Caterpillar. Could make electric cars more practical.

Ah, hence the name.

Yep, its the driveline that matters, the car itself is just to attract attention.


Now take that drive line and put it in a Toyota Camry, then you will have something. I drive 50 miles or less in a day, provided I had a second gas car for trips I'd buy a plug in.

For a daily car it would make a lot of sense.

Damn right! I would too. It would need a good furnace and a/c and a radio.

I'm curious to know how many orders they have. There have been plenty of such dream cars in the past that never happened for one reason or another. I hope they can pull it off, but I'll believe it when Jay Leno has one in his garage.

Hey that's cool! I'd drive one. Hopefully the price gets even cheaper if more are produced and manufacturing becomes streamlined.

I like the idea of a heat pump for climate control.

Looks like a tail end from the 60's like a 66 T-Bird of falcon or something.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26p%3D66%2Bthunderbird%2Bphoto%26y%3DSearch&w=896&h=592&imgurl=www.jrcentral.com%2Fimages%2F66thun derbird18.jpg&size=213.8&name=66thunderbird18.jpg&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jrcentral.com%2F1966thunder birdjrimages.html&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jrcentral.com%2F1966thunderbirdjrimages.html&p=66+thunderbir d&type=jpeg&no=3&tt=325

It's roughly the shape of a raindrop.