https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2021/solar-car/
Aptera Motors, a California company whose name comes from the ancient
Greek for “wingless,” is rolling out the first mass-produced solar car
this year. It’s a three-wheel, ultra-aerodynamic electric vehicle
covered in 34 square feet of solar cells. The car is so efficient that,
on a clear day, those cells alone could provide enough energy to drive
about 40 miles — more than twice the distance of the average American’s
commute.
...
From top to wheels, the Aptera is designed to eliminate as much waste as
possible. Its creators say the car is 13 times more efficient than a
gas-powered pickup truck and four times more efficient than the average
electric vehicle. At least 90 percent of the power produced by the
Aptera’s solar panels goes toward making the vehicle move, the company
says.
...
Anthony and Fambro know how easy it is to fail. Four years after
founding Aptera in 2006, they left the venture amid disagreement with
other leadership — auto industry veterans who wanted to build a
traditional four-wheeled vehicle to qualify for federal loans. But the
money never materialized. The company was liquidated in 2011, and its
intellectual property sold.
...
After a decade spent pursuing other ventures, Aptera’s creators bought
back the company in 2019 and launched a crowdfunding campaign to restart
development.
Their timing was good. Electric batteries had gotten much cheaper and
lighter. Solar cells had become more efficient. Advances in computing
enabled the inventors to simulate the vehicles on their desktops,
speeding up the design process. Even the constraints imposed by the
coronavirus pandemic spurred creativity, Anthony said.
When Aptera began taking preorders last December, it sold out of its
planned first batch of 330 vehicles in 24 hours. Almost 7,500 people
have now put down deposits for a car.
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Peri
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