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Aptera Will Have Steering Yoke Just Like the Tesla Model S and Model X Plaid

Aptera has a really nice approach toward being transparent with customers and fans. The company makes regular update videos, and they always reveal interesting aspects of the electric trike. In the March update, Jason Hill shared that Aptera will adopt a half wheel, which people also call a steering yoke.
Aptera will have a steering yoke just like the Tesla Model S and Model X Plaid 7 photos
Photo: Aptera
Aptera will have a steering yoke just like the Tesla Model S and Model X PlaidAptera will have a steering yoke just like the Tesla Model S and Model X PlaidAptera will have a steering yoke just like the Tesla Model S and Model X PlaidAptera will have a steering yoke just like the Tesla Model S and Model X PlaidAptera will have a steering yoke just like the Tesla Model S and Model X PlaidAptera will have a steering yoke just like the Tesla Model S and Model X Plaid
Yes, you have already seen them in the Tesla Model S and Model X Plaid. You have also heard how badly the idea was implemented in these cars, keeping the same number of lock-to-lock turns and making these cars very difficult to drive more aggressively. Whether you like it or not, that is what the Aptera will get.

Hill is Aptera’s chief of design. He said that the main reasons for the company to have reached a “gateway decision” on the use of the steering yoke. Gateway decisions are those taken when a given condition points to only one of several solutions that can be adopted. Aptera’s chief designer disclosed at least two requirements that the company followed: efficiency and user experience.

Regarding usability, one of the reasons for Aptera to have adopted the yoke may relate to the screen it will have in front of the driver. The alpha prototypes did not have one, making the driver have to look to the central screen to get information about speed, for example. However, what Hill calls the “Vision Assist System” is not for that.

The screen is divided in two for a good reason: each side shows what is going on behind the vehicle on the left and the right. In other words, Aptera placed the images of the rearview cameras right in front of the driver. Hill said they provide an “extra level” of rearview side visibility that will aid with the side mirrors. The truth is that cars cannot have cameras instead of side mirrors In the U.S. That said, Aptera made rearview side mirrors with cameras so that it can get rid of the mirrors with minimal changes when regulations allow that.

That said, it seems that the central screen used by Aptera will still be in charge of presenting all info in the trike. That is another visible Tesla influence on the Aptera, which also uses the same charging cable as Tesla vehicles. That and the central screen – precisely the same one in the Model 3 and Model Y – makes it look like Tesla will be an Aptera supplier. Either that or Aptera managed to contact the same suppliers Tesla has for the ICE and the charger cable.

With the Vision Assist System in place, a steering wheel would make it harder to see it. That would demand more steering column adjustments, making the Aptera a more complex machine than it has to be as well as increasing mass. Avoiding those handicaps could be the advantage of adopting a steering yoke.

On the other hand, making it drive with one lock-to-lock turn would demand power steering, which also adds weight and complexity to the design. It also requires energy to work, making the Aptera less efficient. If the electric trike had thinner front tires and no power steering, that would make it lighter and more frugal in energy consumption but would probably have an impact on handling. We just wonder if that would not make steering too heavy and, therefore, less attractive to customers.

This gives us a fairly good idea of all the decisions any company has to make before locking down the design of a car. The mission to be the most efficient vehicle in the world is what made the Aptera be created in the first place. It is a trike precisely because it wanted to have less drag than a vehicle with four wheels. It will be fascinating to hear from the company about these decisions when it can talk about them.

Apart from the interior, Aptera also talked about moving to its production facility in Carlsbad, California, which should happen by the end of May or the beginning of June. Chris Anthony said that Pablo Ucar is currently purchasing the manufacturing equipment Aptera will need to make the trike there. They should be installed in the next six months so that the company can start deliveries by the end of 2022.

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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
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Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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