Monday, October 01, 2012

Cheap cool hybrid possible, maybe

I want this freaking car, and badly want this car. 

It's an Aptera hybrid.   Okay, before we get to the tech aspects, I have to say something here. This thing looks like the cars we were once promised even if it doesn't fly. Now on to the tech part.
Aptera in Greek means wingless, and the car is as eco-friendly as it is futuristic.

It can be all electric with a plug in, or you can get a small fuel engine installed which will apparently deliver around 200 - 230 MPG. (Bet we never see these offered here openly.)
  The top speed is limited to 95 mph, which is 
probably a very good thing when you take into 
account people like me that learned to drive on
 back country roads.
It's a 2.5 seater, and has only 3 wheels. This would also reduce the friction lag and drag on the car, and still keep it entirely stable. 
  The all electric version runs about 120 miles and then you just plug it in for a couple hours. And it plugs into a standard 110 outlet.
  The other has a fully electric drive train, assisted by a fuel efficient generator.
  It has all the standard festures of a regular car, with air bags, rear view camera, gps, and of course stereo accomidationg cd's, mp3's and a dvd player. RFID key system for starting, solar assisted climate control system, and my mouth is watering over this thing. 
  Reserve it for a 500 dollar fully refundable deposit, and the car itself runs in the area of $26,900.
  Now lets get to what I am fairly sure will happen here. I have no doubt that they will do everything in their power here to keep this vehicle out of america by any means necessary. We have too many in charge that care more for their pocket than they do anything else, regardless of what they say they care about. And you know that the oil companies will hate this and do everything possible to see to it that it gets banned in America for something.
  People are so against hybrids in this country it is unbelievable  and here is one that not only looks amazing, but is also within the affordable range of your normal working person.
  Anyway, thought this might interest a few of you out there, and since we were talking about antiques, and ended up on old cars, I remembered this one.
  SO, anyone know where I can get a quick $27,000 plus shipping costs? Not only would I and I am sure many of you love this vehicle, just think what it would do to this backwards town I am living in right now. Hee hee hee. Okay, so I'm evil. They started it.
  But here it is. Hybrid, affordable, and just plain gorgeous. And I bet they'll do everything possible to keep it out of this country, or they won't make as much money. Or, gas will suddenly shoot to 85 dollars a gallon for whatever false excuse they can make up. I don't care, I want one. And I want it now. They didn't give me my flying freaking car, so I'll take this instead, and we'll call it even. FOR NOW. I still want my flying car. 

Here's a link folks, enjoy, and dream. And if you get one before me, please don't tell me. 













11 comments:

kallamis said...

festures

I don't know what that is, but it should read FEATURES. What in the world is festures.
I'd say something that belonged to old Matts deputy, but his name was spelled Festus.
Even on the Adam's it was Fester.
I missed in every way possible on that one.
I do have my typing days i see. Sorry about that folks. Didn't even see it till just now. Oops.

Beam Me Up said...

Wingless? Well it DOES look like a plane...Now what we need to do is find some old Cessnas and put an electric where the gas engine was strip the wings and drop this thing on some small gas car like a fiat. The thing would be slick in the air...ugly as sin but basically the same car. Hell you could run it off sla batteries or string up the 18 volt packs from power tools for the wattage you need. Its been done before!

kallamis said...

I was thinking about some type of electrical operated skate board for urban and city, but that was just done actually. Rotten little monsters beat me to the punch.
I'm always trying to think up some weird thing. Oneof these days, once this place is done finally, I'll be doing some experimenting again. Phan basically decided I can do it in the garage.
It's amazing how no one trusts my experiments. Blow a big cloud of black smoke out of a garage one time, one smegging time, and suddenly you get listed as a mad scientist.
I didn't even set anything on fire really. And I was 13 for petes sake. That shouldn't be held against me now.
Here's something I learned at 11. No matter how much black powder you use, that damn rocket pack just won't launch you. Probably good too, since it was also a home made parachute I made. And the parachute (cough cough) cord was actually braided binder that you use for bailing hay.
And homemade jet engines don't do well either. They sometimes come apart. At least on that one they didn't catch me. Luckily.
They did catch me trying to build another powder version for a sled though. It really is amazing I'm alive and still in one basic piece. Mom still can't figure out why I'm still alive. You should have seen her face when I mentioned some power generation experiments I wanted to try. I don't think I ever saw fear in her before, till then.

Anonymous said...

To my knowledge Aptera closed down operations a couple years ago after they failed to win the automotive X-Prize competition.

Beam Me Up said...

now sub in the ocean and you have some of the stunts we used to pull. Wonder we are alive for sure!

Beam Me Up said...

Thanks for the heads up Anonymous.
Kall?

kallamis said...

Yeah they did actually. Thanks anom. When I first came across it, it was still in the building process. Same page too with no mention of that.
December 2, 2011 actually. The rotten smegs. Their main page is still exactly the same, with no mention of being gone.
So he is right. I just used their main page which had the new pics and stuff up they didn't have last time.
Thanks for that man. I also found out that they are apparently in the process of trying this again but with 4 wheels under a different name. I'll keep looking and let you know if that is true. I think that article was referring to the Edison2 vehicle though which has nothing to do with Aptera as far as I know.
I wonder who they sold the info to though.
Okay, so maybe it's time to really try that power generation system of mine, and build my own smegging car.

Unknown said...

I'd be surprised if they came back with a 4 wheel version. I think there could easily be a way for them to classify this as a motorcycle and thereby do an "end run" on some of the NHTSA regulations that a car must conform too.

Beam Me Up said...

There IS some merit in that idea. I think quite a few of the EU countries have done just that. Hell if you can have a four wheel bike, why the hell not?!

Lynn said...

erTI will say that a three wheel vehicle is not that stable-ask a Morgan owner. Or a trike owner. And as for a flying car-please no! The people I drive with on the roads now have a very hard time with just two dimensions-do not give them a third to play with. But a cool looking hybrid type car is a plus. Ps I think a 64 Corvair would make a good test mule for a electric/hybrid car.

Beam Me Up said...

Lynn
yeah, the "conventional" configuration put an instability point at 45 and 315 degrees. This means the trike is pushing into these areas of instability. However if you put these unstable areas in the rear you eliminate the two high speed areas of instability. The can-am bikes (or trikes if you prefer) have just such a layout. They can corner as well as any bike or car as long as the center of balance is towards the rear.