Aptera released the video of a drag race with very little information apart from the vehicles we can (barely) see in the challenge. There’s a Tesla Model 3, an Audi R8, and two Aptera prototypes: the Aptera Noir alpha vehicle and an unidentified beta trike. The Aptera beta beats the big dogs, but the relevant part is that the company is already developing a new EV.
In a previous Aptera dynamic testing video, Brian Homsangpradit said something revealing. The chassis engineering told viewers this (the bold is on us):
“The testing for beta is so important because it helps us validate our model that we’ve been analyzing in atoms for months now. Yet, we’ve not been able to put it in practice and actually feel the car and what the simulation says it should do versus what it is actually doing. So this is extremely important for us because we have this model that we’re building our next vehicle off of as well, and we need to validate it to ensure that it is actually performing like we expect it to.”
Homsangpradit could be referring to the production version of the Aptera trike, but that is already implied. Mentioning that the company is “building our next vehicle off of” this prototype “as well” suggests something different. We’ll ask Aptera about that.
Regarding the drag race, both the Aptera Noir and the beta prototype present AWD. The beta is a stripped vehicle, making it much lighter than the Noir. At the same time, it has no glasses, which makes its aerodynamic drag theoretically much higher.
Unfortunately, we have no idea of the speeds they reach nor of the distance this drag race had. It is definitely shorter than a quarter-mile, especially because the Aptera must have a speed restriction. An Audi R8 V10 can cover a quarter-mile in around 11.5 seconds, which is more time than this drag race takes.
Beyond beating the R8 and the Model 3, comparing the alpha and beta prototypes shows the evolution that the company had with the changes it did on the more recent one. The Noir jumps ahead of all other vehicles at the beginning but is apparently overtaken by all of them in the end. The end of the race seems not to be on the white line but rather where the cones are placed.
Aptera suggests it has ended its vehicle dynamics tests, which were held at the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. With that part of development concluded, they’re now heading to crash tests. When the beta prototype tests are over, the company will create gamma units – equivalent to pre-production cars – and end development with the delta cars, which customers will eventually drive.
Google News