But why? Surely, this is not the most good looking of the all-electric bunch that threatens to storm the market in the near future. We are not sure if it can even compete with the lesser of its kind, the hybrids, for the simple reason that it costs a lot of money. In between $25,000 and $40,000, depending on the version, to be more exact. Compare that with the $19,800 Honda Insight!
Then why write about it? Well, it seems fun, and if its price goes down, it will probably set a trend. And it has Google written all over it. Not because they made it, but because they paid for its development, together with IdeaLab. Aptera is private funded, because in accordance with the US law, a three-wheeled vehicle is not subject to a Department of Energy loan. This doesn't stop its manufacturer to hope that Aptera's design will turn some heads on Capitol Hill.
Anyways, until they sort that out, let's get to the fun part. Aptera 2e looks like a buggy right out of the Jetsons. The two front wheels are housed not underneath the car, as you would see in a normal vehicle, but to its sides. Look at it from the front, it seems innocent enough, but when you start and get around it, it begins resembling an F15 fighter, without its wings, jet engines and weapons, of course.
The ultralight car weighs 1,700 pounds (775 kg) and carries safety features such as a race car-like passenger safety cell, airbags and a front crumple zone. "The 2e is as safe as any car on the road, and its groundbreaking aerodynamics helps it to fly past fueling stations,” Paul Wilbur, Aptera CEO said in a release.
Aptera is aimed at changing "everyday commuter driving forever." What is the future we see for it? Well, the company plans to built 100,000 of them over the next five years, an overestimated figure in our opinion. We feel though it is more likely you will not see them in the morning, stuck in traffic, but in the weekends and holidays, crammed together in malls or cinema parking lots.
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