Personal transportation is about to take a giant leap into the future now that US startup Aptera unveiled a three-wheeled solar electric car with a range of up to 1,000 miles on a full battery.
Although the car can be fully charged via a charging cord, it won’t need that when drivers are out on the road during the daytime as solar energy from the sun will keep the vehicle topped up. In fact, the solar technology used in the two-person Aptera car is designed to store enough sunlight to enable the car to travel over 11,000 miles per year in most regions, which is more than enough if you consider that the average American drives 29 miles per day.
According to Aptera, the vehicle features a total of 180 solar cells that are integrated on the car body, which can be configured to provide up to 45 miles of range per day. Aptera claims this makes its three-wheeled vehicle the first that is capable of meeting most daily driving needs using only solar energy.
“Even though the longest-range Aptera can drive for about 1,000 miles between charge, the reality is that most of our driving is 30 miles or less,” said the company, which is based in San Diego. “For Aptera, 30 miles consumes about three-kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity. Now, let’s say your commute is 15 miles each way, let’s assume it’s dark when you’re driving to and from work. While parked at the office on a sunny day, your Aptera could put back in about 4.4 kWh, which is far more than what you’ll use that day. You’ll arrive home with more charge than when you left with. That’s how it works, it’s as simple as that.”
On its website, you can find a calculator that allows you to enter your location and type in how many miles you drive in a day to determine how many times a year you would need to charge the car. If you live in Britain and drove an average of 25 miles per day, for example, you would need to change the Aptera vehicle via an electrical cord an estimated 1.46 times per year.
Aptera says its solar-powered car will go into production in 2021, although no price tag has been revealed. That said, if Aptera’s claims about the car are true, then we’ll surely be seeing these energy-efficient vehicles on the road in no time.
