Aptera hasn’t been making many headlines lately, but they’re still working on getting their unique 3-wheeled EV into production. A major milestone was reached recently with the arrival of the first production body from their manufacturing partner in Italy.
While this is great news, it doesn’t mean you can zoom off in a solar car just yet. Production hasn’t officially begun, and the original delivery target of 2024 might get pushed back again due to funding challenges.
To make their 3-wheeled EV super slippery through the air, Aptera uses a special computer program called AirShaper. It’s like a virtual wind tunnel, but way faster and cheaper than the real thing! This lets them refine the car’s design to minimize air resistance.
A recent video by AirShaper gives us a closer look at a working Aptera prototype. The company’s CEO, Chris Anthony, even explains the design philosophy.
The Aptera’s body is more like an airplane fuselage than a typical car. This unique design helps it achieve an incredibly low drag coefficient, which means it can travel farther with less energy. They estimate it to be between 0.13 and 0.15, which is seriously impressive.
Just to compare, the most aerodynamic production car (the Mercedes EQS) has a drag coefficient of 0.202, and a special streamlined Volkswagen (XL1) barely dips below 0.20. That means the Aptera cuts through the air with much less drag!