Nice video! Just to be perfectly clear about Aptera: I believe almost all of their physics claims! They're like a maximum energy optimization science project with today's battery and material tech! Kinda reminds me of the Mercedes Vision EQXX I got to play with. ...I just have 0 confidence that the market for the product they're hoping to make is anywhere near big enough to keep the company alive. Which is a shame! See: Faraday Future, Lordstown, etc and even the current dire state of Lucid. I do hop they prove me wrong though, and if they prove me wrong I'll be first in line to check it out
Idk how you got on this video this fast to comment this. You either have a great team or something cause the video has been up for less than an hour and less than 3k views surprised it popped up on your radar. I also 100% agree with you in that this vehicle seems designed for California and that’s about it. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think you would feel comfortable driving a three wheeled vehicle in the north east after that snow storm we had cause I would not want to and as you mentioned in the podcast driving that in Texas where everyone else is in a truck seems very unsafe. I personally think they will launch but then be in a similar situation as Lucid or what happened to Boosted
@@Melchirobin oddly enough, I think Texas or the midwest where there's a lot of wide open space might be where this vehicle would really shine. Here in CA, the speed limit for most freeways is still only about 65mph. in TX, the speed limit is 85 and once you get up to those speeds, aerodynamic drag really starts to hurt the range on a model Y or model 3. It would FASCINATING to see what sort of efficiency the aptera has at >80mph, that's where all of the aero design starts to come in handy, and why I think aptera would be the best vehicle for inter-city or interstate road travel...
One big difference between the other startups you mentioned and the aptera is that nearly all the others have a starting price of 100k+ The apera is around 20-30k Of course that's no guarantee of success, but the luxury car market is significantly smaller
I had to drive around Carlsbad today and decided to locate Aptera so I could attend an event there later this month. It's located next to the Upper Deck trading card company. As I am driving around the facility I actually saw Gamma zip behind me in the parking lot. It was breathtaking to see, effortlessly cutting through the air. I think it was Chris M behind the yoke. I drove around the back and saw a GMC in Aptera livery with a flatbed, a loading dock, and an open access ramp leading inside. I had a vision of myself, later this year, returning to pickup my Accelerator Launch Edition. It's going to be great.
I've been into cars for about 17 years; since I turned 13. I remember when the internet said "Tesla is dead" but I was seeing a Roadster a month and then a Model S per week. I lived in Santa Monica Ca when "Tesla [was] dead". I don't give a fuck what Autoblog writers in upstate NY think; California is the proving ground. I guarantee I'll start seeing Apteras in the wild while morons online whine that they don't exist. If tesla can do it turning a super-car into a shittier toyota 20 years ago, Aptera can easily succeed today.
@@vorg_big mistake to compare Aptera to Tesla. The car is technically fine but the business model does not make sense - it will not sell in the numbers required to get the cost down.
@bluetoad2668 Aptera has a manufacturing process via CPC that even Tesla will will appreciate. Watch as this startup goes cash flow positive in record time.
The model 3 proves this wrong. "Tesla is insane to make a sedan. Everyone wants SUVs" Nope, traditional OEMs just don't know what people want; which is cheap and efficient transportation. Model 3 was the best selling car last year in the US. @@bluetoad2668
@@bluetoad2668 Aptera is following the same plan as Tesla - build a low-volume 2-seater first then build a more mainstream car for the masses. Tesla only built about 2500 Roadsters before moving on to the Model S. Aptera will also be looking at making a 4-wheel 4-seater after the initial production run of the 3-wheeler. Having said that, they have 10,000 pre-orders for the Launch Edition, and almost 40,000 more pre-orders for the other versions, so the first Aptera is looking at being way more successful than the first Tesla.
As someone who’s invested in Tesla since 2012, the way so many people dismiss Aptera today reminds me A LOT of the way many people completely dismissed Tesla up until 2018 or so. As a product guy I’m getting the same “this car looks amazing” vibes that I got from Tesla back then and no other EV company since.
Did you know that both companies were started the same year, 2005? Only one of them has mass-produced any vehicles. The other hasn't produced a single production vehicle and hasn't met a single promised deadline. Not a single deadline. I cannot stand Musk, but let's be fair, Tesla did it and Aptera never will. Did I drink the Kool-Aid for many years? Yes I did. I placed an order. I bought the stock. And I stopped drinking the Kool-Aid in May when I realized they push backed production even more years, and I saw they were no longer going to be offering wheel hub motors, yet they kept selling the car as if it would have all-wheel drive and hub motors. That is called bait-n-switch. It's fraud. I'm in sales. You just don't do that and expect to succeed. And it's just wrong.
Another safety concept is *deflection* vs engagement. I.E. the curved surfaces tend to deflect off of an object that is impacting the chassis. This increases the length of time that is available to bring the Aptera to a stop. Longer time to dissipate energy = *much* lower G-forces on the occupants. And like an Formula 1 car, the outboard wheels can shear off and this dissipates energy as well, and the curved sides of the Aptera then move to the side. Rectangular vehicles tend to wrap around an object, and this shortens the time available to dissipate the energy of the impact.
This of the Aptera shape as an egg with just a little lubricant on the outside. Since the Graphite body is so hard, in some situations it will just slide to one side or the other.
I built a solar powered pickup truck (by converting a Chevy S10) in the early 2000s which. Had a 1.1 KW array where a carpenters rack would go. I got between 15 and 25 miles of free driving a day between April and October here in Maine. Depended on how well I kept the array pointed at the sun. Drove it about 3000 miles a year on sunshine. Could get 2 to 3 miles per kWh around town and could carry about 1000 lb in it’s 6nft bed.
It's hard not to harbor negative feelings when your peers don't have the same context as you do due to circumstances, but this video Drew has demonstrated to us that we can address the context charitably and leave the door opens for future discussion / collaboration Kudos to both creators for not making a negative drama outta this
Both are absolute professionals which is why this can be handled clearly and well on both sides. While I hope mkbhd is wrong I can see the rational of his thought process. Noone is screeming scam or attacking.
the only ting is... water drops are NOT teardrop shaped at all. Just check and google physics research on the subject. It is relatively new but not that new...
Thanks for this! People on the internet always trying to stir up controversy…thanks for being an adult and giving context and not giving into the temptation to make this a negative topic (we all know negative gets more clicks). Appreciate your content.
Aptera is not for everyone, nor for a majority of vehicle use cases. It’s an excellent commuter car, 2nd car, or vehicle for single or empty nesters. Look at all the successful 2-seater cars sold. Clearly, that’s a huge market. I’ll use it in a southern state and be happy averaging 25 mi/day from solar and charging overnight at a standard electrical outlet paying only 14 cents/kWh. My average daily drive is well under 50 mi/day. I think Aptera driver’s greatest challenge is learning how to avoid potholes with 3-wheels.
@@billsmith5960 How many Corvette's would you sell if it got the equivalent operating cost of 200 mpg and cost only $30K. I think at least 10X volume. And this EV looks better than a Corvette.
@@billsmith5960 Remember that the cost of an Aptera is a fraction of what the Corvette is and that even the the 0 to 60 time for a c5 Corvette is not as good as an AWD Aptera. Aptera has FAR wider appeal.
@@billsmith5960 Both My wife and I have gone to the effort to ride in a prototype. Look at the grin on the faces of others who have also done so, or do it yourself if you want to get a better understanding of the importance of that performance to market size. Aptera themselves said that they were expecting an initial market of around 4,000 vehicles - larger than Tesla's. In fact paid pre-orders have shown it to be around 20 times that - so far.
I live in a suburban area of Santiago Chile, work from home, I go one or twice a week to the supermarket around 4 KM away, and in average once a week to Santiago around 35KM away, it would mean I travel for free basically, we have good sun here
My runabout lives on the driveway here in Sydney, open to the sky. I'd likely charge the thing 100% off sun alone as I only need to drive somewhere every other day and go no more than 20km round trip. I'd happily buy the top model with max solar, but with the smallest pack.
I'm most excited to see Kyle Conner and Out of Spec channel get an Aptera to test and compare. I also think he'll manage to get some good seat time in one of the early production.
Aptera will succeed, just keep focused on their mission. Everybody is not a fan of the Cybertruck, but as production ramps up they will become more and more popular and soon it will become the Best selling truck of all time. Aptera is doing something good by starting with something different and unique and it will grow on people in the years to come. Just like Telo with their truck, all these companies will succeed as long as they remain focused on their mission and not over extend and try to grow too fast.
It truly blows my mind that the Cybertruk still has like 40k reservations and people think the Aptera won't succeed. It's almost universally more appealing and there's no CEO or quality baggage. If Tesla can sell an ugly truck with the fit and finish of a crumpled piece of foil; then Aptera is a guaranteed success.
@@vorg_the cyber truck has over 2 million preorders and growing, Aptera will grow when they release a product right now it’s just a possibility with no guarantee 🤞
The cybertruk preorder was 10x cheaper than any previous Tesla reservation and the product delivered is 2x the price and conceptually 100% different than the truck promised at reveal. Until tesla converts those preorders into sales; it's meaningless. The cybertruk is not what Elon sold people; contrastingly the Aptera has only changed for the better since preorders started. @@Dsnybx911
See, this is why I immediately recognized the potential of the Aptera the moment I first saw it. My fsther got interested in three wheel vehicles about the time I was in college and spent several years studying them. This was all amateur hobbyist stuff back then. He learned about the geometry of three wheelers, and how the low rolling resistance was perfect for electric vehicles. And he learmed about using lightweight materials to get as much rsnge out of a battery as you can. This was in the days of the Pulse enclosed motorcycle, so my dad ended up designing a car that was shaoed like a fighter jet, with eheels out on the end of the "wings". It would have been aerodynamic as all get out, but he never built it. When I saw the Aptera, though, I immediately recognized it ss similar to my dad's design. I knew the aerodynamics and the three wheel chassis would give it incredible range. And when I learned that it was going to be made of lightweight carbon fiber, I knew their claim of 1000 miles to a charge, and 40 miles per day on solar power weren't just wishful thinking. It looked like what I knew it should look like. I was a little unsure about the width, but from the drag coefficients I have seen, it looks like width isn't as important as keeping that teardrop shape.
What people dont understand is that luck plays a big role in sucess,so you can have a great product and still fail!Maybe it was just the wrong time,or no help from the goverment or something else!The Aptera is a great product and i hope they can massproduce them!
I was trying to avoid going into detail about 2009, but you are right, I was talking about the 2005 Aptera when I said I first saw it. Just to be quick and honest about it I think the failure was a combination of the technology being not quite there yet, and a hostile takeover of the company. But that's not really relevant to the 2019 Aptera Motors. The Aptera could still fail but at this time I think it is in the hands of the public. We can never really predict if the Aptera will be the next big trend, completely rejected by its target audience, or somewhere in between.
Even mkbhd’s comment on this video is so disappointing, about how he has 0 confidence that there’s a market for this vehicle, but at least he said he’s open to be proven wrong
@@BSingh-on4qr you misread that. He said he has zero confidence there's a LARGE enough market to sustain the company. He also said he hopes they make a go of it. We won't know the answer to that until five or ten years from now.
You are very generous and forgiving of MKBHD. If he is too busy to do the research and due diligence on a product he is “reviewing” for the public, he should NOT say anything.
Didn’t realize they talked about the Aptera. Great response to clear some things up. It kind of sucked that they were a bit negative about the car due to it not being out and no research but no one’s perfect.
@@altosackYeah I can agree to that too. If you don’t know something that you’re talking about, don’t talk too deep about it. Opinions are fine but most likely it’s not accurate.
😮I'd say more generally about the Aptera is that it's scaleable. It's scaleable in that the manufacturing can increase about as fast as those Italian tools can stamp out the structural components. Scaleable in that we don't have to restructure the electrical grid to accommodate 10 million superchargers. Tech optimists don't think about Scaleable, or don't even understand it. But look at this way. The Highway system in southern California isn't scaleable. It worked great back in the day, but chucking billions of dollars at it in the last 50 years hasn't produced a commensurate improvement. What you get is two hour commutes on 10 lane roads. Ultimately it would have been better, cheaper, if they'd kept upgrading urban trolleybuses. Similarly, your Tesla works great now, but how does it work when everyone has one? How does the grid cope? Where do all the superchargers go? But the assumption is that it all gets easier, the more e cars we get. There's a geometric growth mindset, but cars aren't smart phone apps and this model is going to hit the stops.
I really hope to see aptera succeed. I still remember their original ICE version from like 2008. I think the new EV landscape is perfect for a revival of their ideas and hopefully people will keep them alive.
Honestly I'm not a fan of MKBHD. I think his videos are a general example of modern influencer marketing. Also I've seen him give some pretty misleading explanations of things in his videos on general tech, he's definitely not the technical type and he really just says what the companies claim about the products. I mean I remember I found him when he used to claim the Audio Technica m50x was one of the best value headphones, they really sound pretty poor. I remember him also doing things like range tests for bluetooth which is always a misleading test as it's nearly impossible to have identical variables. I think he's mainly popular as he says things that sounds like they make sense to the general person, likely because that's about where his understanding of things ends too.
He's made multiple videos calling the iPhone mini "shit" because his hands are big. He's not a serious journalist or a product reviewer. He's a lucky kid that youtube sponsors. No auto-enthusiast takes him seriously. In fact, he's almost universally hated among real auto journalists. That's what happens when you try to capitalize on treating cars like disposable electronics, though.
MKBHD doesn't have much technical knowledge in my opinion, but most of the popular reviewers of cell phones don't really dig into the engineering and their understanding of the tech is pretty superficial in my opinion. I always thought that he overfocused on the market leaders (Apple and Samsung) rather than looking at what was innovative, and he rarely talked about the things that consumers should care about: durability, fixability, longevity, replaceable battery, 3.5 mm audio jack, microSD card slot, the ability to root the phone and unlock the bootloader and install another operating system, etc.
He makes fancy adverts for products with a smattering of 'opinions' ... like most tech channels. A good presenter but no real knowledge of anything he talks about.
Your view of MKBHD seems pretty uncharitable... I think one thing that sets the Aptera community apart is that we're open to considering ideas - even ideas that we're not fond of. We look at the science, we do the research. We're objective. So far, I haven't loved MKBHD's early opinions on the car. He seems a bit more skeptical and critical than I would like... That said, let's not pretend that this is some "easy challenge". Breaking into such a dominated industry with an obscure idea has a lot of risk! Even if the concept and products are good, there are hurdles to become successful. All I'm saying - if we want other people to be charitable, I think it's important to be charitable to others as well. His content might not always be perfect, but I think he does a pretty good job about providing objective reviews from his perspective, which he is pretty good about explaining. They're not as technical as other channels, but that doesn't mean that they're poor reviews. Even if you don't agree with his choice of headphones, I think the points he makes - and the comparisons - are valid. Maybe his taste doesn't match yours, but I'm almost positive he's had more experience with the headphone market than you have, and I would be careful with saying his well-informed opinion isn't valid - much less extending that to his opinion on EVs. And if you think he's being unfair to this one, take a look at some of his other electric EV critiques - many of them are far from glowing.
Hopefully he sees this and looks into aptera properly. He briefly mentioned them as well in one of the other car videos a few months ago and also slightly negatively
JerryJigEverything should slap some sense into marques. He's at least driven the damn prototypes. It was an innocent video then he came here and commented some horse shit about lordstown and faraday future after shilling God only knows how much vaporware to his audience.
UA-cam commentators still need to do responsible work. Sloppy work should be not acceptable there any more than in "traditional" media. MKBHD work was irresponsible, I don't care how busy he chooses to be. (It is a choice, after all.)
A lot of people thought Tesla would fail and Cybertruck would never ship. Most would probably claim (incorrectly) that VW outsells Tesla in the USA. I don't think Marques' ignorance is malicious ... he's just disappointingly wrong.
Spot on. He's like a top 100 youtuber; they constantly claim they should be take seriously as journalists; but he can't even pass the basis to hit the opinion section of a local newspaper. I'm glad aptera has strayed away from influencers and stuck with industry experts for their test drive videos. Seriously, geniuses in the marketing department giving the prototype to Donut instead of a tech guy. The tech speaks for itself. Anyone can use the coefficient of drag and the battery sizes to calculate ranges. Plus we know it's about 700 watts of solar; so add that to the calculation. We can even roughly test the aerodynamics because Aptera posted the damn 3d model of the car. The only things we can't test in calculations are how it feels to drive. That alone is why Aptera should continue to focus on auto and EV/ Renewable channels.
I personally believe that once Aptera hits the road, it will pique many peoples interest and sales will explode and an even larger sales growth will happen once a 4 seater comes out. It is true the 2 seater is a bit of a niche market car. Fortunately, I am in that niche, and that niche is larger than most people think. Plus with the large trunk/storage space, it will do well with fleet delivery and servicing companies as maintenance and fuel cost reign supreme in that business area.
I completely agree. My wife and I have ridden in a prototype, and the experience was eye opening. The production vehicles will be even more attractive.
You do a great presenting accurate information. I would love to see you do a video on your opinion of Canoo. I like what they are doing by going to fleet customers and not actively pursuing retail customers. What’s more I really like both their products that make sense to me. I hope to hear your thoughts.
The safety issue is a joke people have been killed by cars while sitting on the couch in their house, you could be walking into Walmart or on a sidewalk and get hit by a car, driving an Aptera is safer than crossing the street, nothing is safe in this world just safer but there’s no guarantee of survival with anything in any vehicle
This response is well reasoned, but the comments by the 2 guests on the show, however off the cuff, are childish and reckless given the respect people have for their channel. They have the power of influence and with that power comes responsibility, not great though given that they aren't that popular
MKBHD and friends uniformed negative comments only make them look like Joe Rogan level intelligence. They could have said, "We don't know and will look into it, but they claim...".
Great response, thanks! Hey, what do you think...PI builds this month? Im going for a visit the second week of February...hope to see one, really hoping for a test drive.
I think the reason for the anger from those of us that know Aptera is that MKBHD says he "thinks" it'll never come out. His statement insinuates that he has put thought and research into the product and company when in fact he knows nothing about them. This gives a false sense of negativity to his millions of followers that is unjustified and isn't credible.
They've never sold a car ever and currently have no release date, so MKBHD is right so far. They're just stealing money from poor people who have never invested before.
Honestly one thing I don't think he is considering is just the sustainability aspect. I won't lie I am not a fan of cars in general and scientists that study sustainability have been warning about cars since the 90s. The massive infrastructure cost of adding electric stations all over the country and at homes (not to mention how the fuck they are going to get that done in apartments) is a major problem. Walkable cities, mass transit and bikes should be the main focus of our government but I find the Aptera one of the few cars that could be a fair compromise. Able to charge by solar and also they mentioned you don't need a special charging station would make it way easier for adoptability for the average person. Going to be my next car.
I have a question, what does the car do to keep the cabin cool during summer where it wants to be soaking up the sun? I recon a screen blocking the windshield will not be preferred since there are some solar panel under the windshield.
I'm sure we all want Aptera to succeed, but the odds are heavily stacked against them, or any company, trying to survive. Putting all your hopes and dreams into a car company that's not yet making profit, is like starting a new Netflix series and acting as if there's a huge chance you'll get to see the end of the five season story arc. He's come in the comments and added more info (pin that when you see it btw) and what he says makes 100% sense. Yes, I agree that if you do a deep dive it would seem that Aptera are on the right track. However, there are at least a dozen companies I've been hoping will do a thing with an EV that actually matters, that still haven't years later and so many, many, many, many that had seemingly good product ideas that didn't get into production. Prototypes are easy, production is hard. I will be fully confident that they will make a go of it, several years after they have been in production at high rates and showing a profit.
Completely fair points you made. I feel that doing a deep dive into Aptera would answer some of these questions though. They are unlike any other EV manufacturer, truly.
I thought the same about Aptera when I first stumbled on the company a year or 2 back. but now I get it. have a reservation and invested, so am looking forward to seeing if they can get to production.
If MKBHD were an engineer, or had an electronics, coding or design degree of some kind, I'd be more inclined to pay attention to his ramblings re. tech, but as things stand his stature as an 'influencer' fails to impress me. He also seems just a bit full of himself, just a bit entitled-acting, which doesn't endear him to me either.
Spot on. Nail in the coffin for me was when he said "Apple should kill the iPhone mini because it's personally too small for my hands". He's not a serious journalist. He's a paid advertiser. Good on Toyota for getting the word out about solar viability though. 7 Miles per day is a lot for any vehicle that isn't an Aptera.
Around 3:20 I think they were sharing stats on the highland model 3 which does have more range than the model 3 we have in US. Once highland releases in America then that comparison may be more apples to apples. Not trying to say they’ll be the same but they’ll be closer than they are in your example
Raindrops aren't shaped like teardrops. They're actually very flat. Just like it would be when sitting on a flat surface. The only difference is the surface is air when falling.
Ginger isn't too good of a thinker. The reason a teardrop forms its shape is because the drop tries to cling to the surface it's leaving, and has nothing to do with aerodynamics. The point (as in like a spear) is far more aerodynamic than the almost semicircle of the leading edge of a teardrop. I'm blocked, so if you see this, copy it into the thread please?
@@TailosiveEV you miss his point. Tear drop shape isnt' the most aerodynamic. That shape is actually a half circle with the flat part crashing against the wind. Obviously you don't want that shape in a car. One of those science youtube guys has a short on it.
@@TailosiveEV Yeah, I agree. We are just clarifying the concept itself. You can see what we mean on a short made by Veritasium about the real shape of a water drop.
@@JohnMatheson-s8t Not necessarily. There is a built in controller for high voltage DC or AC to DC. The external solar panels are likely to be 12 volt DC, and I am not sure that they will cover that range. There may be a different 12 volt socket that can be used. Good question!
@user-fw3bx1wz2n Aptera talked about possibly offering an optional panel, I think it was 1kWatt, that could be fit in the hatch. It would have a cover and som sort of collapsible stand. When possible you could set it up and plug it into the Aptera via some standard port.
Thanks for the video. I just read MKBHD's comment below. I have been a fan of Aptera for over ~13 years since their first endeavor. We are early reservation holder (#495) as well as small-time investors and considering joining the accelerator program. Having said that, I do have concerns about a sufficiently large market in THE USA for this 2-seater, 3-wheel vehicle. We currently have two 4-wheel EVs and our 3rd car is a 2000 Honda Insight with a manual transmission. Only 17020 Gen-1 Insights were made and majority came to the USA. Despite it was way ahead of its time, Insight did NOT sell in this SUV/truck country. Hopefully Aptera is working on a 3/4 seater Aptera 2.0 to follow up the current model for long-term success and sustainable business. I don't think the # wheels is that big of a deal. I SINCERELY HOPE I AM WRONG.
I currently drive one of those Insights. Having ridden in an Aptera prototype, I know that the performance is much more akin to the original Tesla Roadster at 1/3rd the price, and still has much more utility. The Honda was greatly lacking in fun factor in comparison. I am not worried about Aptera's market once people experience it.
Hello, I love the APTERA, and wish them the very best, in your dealings with the company was there any talk of how the Aptera would perform in cold snow climates?, how much of an impact would this have on the batteries? would the stability still be there or would the vehicle require snow tires?
Tire choices will be no different. Any tire that is good in snow will work on the Aptera's standard 16" wheels. They are doing testing in cold, and the Aptera will not be different from other EV's. Cold temperatures have a big effect on battery efficiency and range. Prewarming the pack will be a big help on those days, and Aptera can do it when you're away from home or a charger because it can solar charge.
Teardrop works for small objects. For large objects, I bet a spear is better. A stretched drop. You get a decent internal space, it's just narrow. An extended Aptera might not lose a lot of range but have 2 or 4 more seats or a lot of extra and convenient cargo space. And lst not forget: way more solar panel surface. A single meter added to its widest part, not moving a molecule of extra air out of the way (in theory based on frontal surface) would be more efficient for energy per unit of distance per unit of payload. Trains and ships are efficient that way. Trains needing infrastructure still but going fast, ships a bit slower but all water is their infrastructure, there's just no tank stop halfway an ocean. Or are there?
At around 7:50 you allude to a raindrop taking on a teardrop shape. Actually, a rain drop starts out as a spherical shape, up to about .08 inches, around a dust mote or smoke particle, due to surface tension. As it starts falling its shape starts to look more like the top half of a hamburger bun. As it accumulates moisture, while it passes through moist air, the influence of surface tension decreases due to its increase in size. As the raindrop increases in size past around a quarter inch, there is sufficient decreased influence of surface tension and increased influence of air moving over the rain drop to eventually break it up into two or more rain drops and the process continues until it strikes something solid.
You seem to not understand the difference of an object in motion in a fluid versus a sphere in a zero-gravity vacuum. Hint: Aptera drives in an atmosphere.
Should be exciting. The fact that Aptera says they are going to crash test it alone should be a green flag to anyone. They don't need to. It's legally a motorcycle. But they are going to because they actually want to change transportation.
As an Aptera investor and early reservation holder, my greatest concern is if they have enough capital to ramp up production. Undoubtedly they will face production hell with all sorts of problems to solve which sucks up cash. This Sandy Munro vintage engineer believes their design is viable, but also considerable risk.
They do not, which is why they continue to beg influencers to spread positive news to stem the tide of people asking for their deposits back. Aptera doesn't even have regulatory approval to sell the cars even if they could make them tomorrow. They are slow walking their customers to bankruptcy, at which point the big investors get the liquidation $ and the reservation holders get an apology letter.
@@killr0y You have already shown that you have done zero research into Aptera's financial situation and the risk to deposit holders. Perhaps that is why you don't want anyone to know your actual name.
@@killr0y Just making the obvious point that Aptera can sell cars in California because they are a licensed dealer there. The entire Aptera team is focused on bringing the vehicle to production, and if you check out their numerous reports on design and development, you will get a sense of how viable Aptera is.
Aptera would be a great commuter EV if it used LFP batteries instead. Also they should have a cheaper vrsiom without solar panels, for those of us that live in the far north with very dark winters and hardly any sun. Since Aptra only seats 2 people it's mainly usetul for commuting and light shopping
LFP batteries do not do as well in the cold that I am presently experiencing in Iowa - at present -5 and on the way down - and the NMC batteries have the required power density. Chris Anthony has founded and as CEO took public an LFP battery company. He knows as much as anyone how they perform. Perhaps he may use some in models where the performance works for some markets.
@@n.brucenelson5920 Actually they perform very well as long as they are kept warm. The combo of NMC and solar makes little sense, since they are sensitive to overheating and solar makes sense in sunny places. Where I live we get only a few hours of sun in the winter, solar makes no sense. LFP, on the other hand, works great in hot weather. So in summary, either LFP + solar in sunny hot climates or NMC and no solar in cold climates. I would take LFP during winter anyway since they can be charged to 100% without much degradation unlike NMC and can be recharged many times more also.
@@SkepticalCaveman LFP does not come near the required power density for the design goals, and the solar is cost effective for us even in Iowa, where 62% of our grid power comes from wind. Aptera's controllers are designed to manage the 2170 NMC batteries with even more care than Tesla has with their Model 3s using the same cells.
@@n.brucenelson5920 modern LFP batteries are energy dense enough. LFP are also cheaper to keep down cost. Even if I wanted a EV trike for only two people I wouldn't buy the Aptera, because then I would pay extra for expensive solar panels that I don't want and expensive batteries that will last shorter than the cheaper ones.
@SkepticalCaveman You will be surprised how much solar power is available even in winter in northern latitudes. I'm at 45º N and I will still get miles in mid-winter. Where are you living?
A bit unrelated but I'm a bit underwhelmed by Aptera. I think the future of vehicles should be very compact to be both power and space efficient. While the Aptera seems to be accomplishing the goals they set out for, it's disappointing to me that it's almost larger than the average car. I wonder what the point of the sleek and short design is when it's still basically just kind of a crappier sedan. (By that I mean with similar materials and road-space you can have a vehicle that takes up the same amount of space, be a little taller, safer, a lot more capable of different road conditions, have more insulation, etc.) I'm still excited for it, but I'm more excited to see future models actually deliver better size efficiency.
An Elio style two-seater would be more space efficient, while maintaining the aero efficiencies, but it would also lose a lot of cargo capacity, and therefore utility. It'll be interesting to see if anyone can make anything that has the best of both worlds.
@@GoClimbARockEh I don't really care about the cargo. I care more about emissions and traffic. One person driving to and from work taking up 90 square feet of road and parking (and that's just using smaller averages). There was a study done that showed if 10% of vehicles were motorcycles, traffic congestion could decrease by up to 63%. While there are other variables to consider, such as safety and decreased congestion often leads to more vehicles on the road, the study and evidence from Europe suggests that smaller vehicles are better. There will still definitely be people that need cargo space, especially for the odd occasion. Some people will need pickups, but most people would be fine with just using their passenger seat or small trunk for groceries or a trailer hitch for bigger transports or even calling a buddy with a pickup or moving company for big jobs.
@@DrewColpursYeah it's not going to be the one car that works for everyone. No car is! It fits my needs nicely though, and the cargo space is a critical part of that.
@DrewColpurs Aptera's design combines a very low drag body design with enough surface area to allow for 700 watts of solar , with efficient wheel motors, with a weight around 1,800 lbs an an efficiency of 100 wH/mile it get 337 mpg-e . Side by side seating, strong passenger cell, air bags crumple zones and 7 feet of room and 32.5 cubic feet of storage behind the seats. It even has a tent option that can sleep two in the back. If you want a motorcycle there is no shortage of them .
@@garywozniak7742 The Aptera is great for what they're aiming for, but having a "motorcycle" that has 3 or 4 wheels for stability and ease of use, and an interior for heating and cooling is what I'm hoping eventually gets developed.
I _think_ it was just an opinion or off the cuff remark, but coming from someone with his audience, it can do damage. Marques does amazing tech reviews, but his car reviews always seem to miss something, major or minor. Take his (automotive) comments with a grain of salt.
The materials ability to absorb the crash impact rather then transferring the energy to the passengers is what matters. Not if the vehicles lsurvives the impact. The crash test results should answer some of these questions.
All we know are the price targets that they announced in 2020, and those haven't changed. There has been completely unfounded speculation. Although tooling costs have increased greatly since then, and there has been considerable inflation, battery costs, amount of labor, and scrap material produced in producing each vehicle have all decreased rather dramatically. We are still likely more than 6 months away from knowing where the final pricing will end up.
@@billsmith5960 so I can probably expect somewhere under 50 K for the 250 mile version and somewhere above that for the thousand mile version if I’m getting that right with today’s inflation lol
Except he's actively marketing himself as an auto influencer for OEMS.@@TailosiveEV We're looking into working with him now, but I'm fully opposed. I don't think auto OEMs should bother with tiktok/youtube personalities that don't have the audience that aligns with the buyer. A Doug DeMuro video has about 100x the cost effectiveness of MKHB. His channel is meant to give as little information as possible while advertising a product. He's even made multiple videos explaining how much they spend on camera rigs to augment the lack of quality their videos otherwise represent. Compare that to Doug, whom uses an iphone to film himself and gets 1/2 the video views on 30+ minute videos with maybe a quarter the subscribers. MKBHD might genuinely be interested in cars, but his videos don't reflect that. It seems he doesn't care about the car; but more about the entertainment system. MKBHD can sell a nintento switch, sure; but that's a tiny expense and a different audience. EV buyers are adults. They don't care about the video games you can play while charging; they want to know how the vehicle can save them money and better the future for their children. MKBHD only reviews cars for two reasons- desperation to grow his audience, and tesla marketing pushing this meme that automobiles are just laptops now.
@TailosiveEV a simple statement in his Aptera review video going "ya know I once said that I didn't think it would ever deliver. I was wrong and I'm sorry I said that." Is not a huge ask.
Another issue they brought up was the giant size of EV Hunmmers, Cybertruck etc. Not a whole lot of people are speaking about how EVs were also suppose get smaller overall for their efficiency.
Yeah, he's getting into cars, but doesn't really seem to know anything about them in general, nor do the other hosts from what I've seen. It's a fresh perspective from a tech angle for sure, but everything they say about cars is to be taken with a huge chunk of salt. I'm a fan of MKBHD & co. as well, but there are some caveats :D Very few on his crew seem very nerdy and in-depth tech, some are like hipsters who know THEIR part of the job like editing, audio etc. whatever. A lot of them probably don't even own a car.
Correction: People don't think 3-wheel cars are less safe because they have one less wheel. We naturally think they will be made less safe because 3-wheel cars are classified as auto cycles in the US and don't require the same safety standards and rigorous safety tests that 4 wheel cars do. Most of us who know anything about cars realize that the third wheel car concept is just a go to way for various start ups to get into car production with far lower start up costs precisely because they can skip safety tests and all the added cost that goes with it. I'm hopeful of Aptera and and am investor, but I still remain sceptical of its real safety since they don't have any real world tests yet, just computer models, so we are just taking their word for it, which is not worth anything in the world of hype and lies. Personally, as someone who rides a motorcycle as a daily commuter for both fun and economic savings, I would be fine buying an Aptera even if it was not as safe as a regular car, because it's still substantially safer than a motorcycle and has the potential to be far more efficient to drive and maintain while being funner to drive than a regular sedan or crossover. If it winds up being just as safe or safer than most regular cars, while costing less than a Model 3, that just a bonus for me.
It's the math, and physics. The calculations show that Aptera will be as safe or safer than most new cars, and what you didn't mention is that Aptera will be doing crash testing though it is not required. Those results will be available before production starts. I look forward to seeing those results.
Very solid, fair and clear response Drew to the request to respond to MKBHD and his podcast clip. Appreciate your balanced thoroughness and reasonable/respectful tone. Keep up the great work.
Hungry Howie's, Domino's & Papa John's should be looking to get thousands of Aptera. I drive for JJ but I've drove pizza delivery, too. There are big orders that would require more than the space of the front seat, but the back should be able to hold a few big bags, maybe 20 pizzas, another 4-8 up front. I'd love to use mine as a delivery vehicle. At this point, with the slow Cybertruck ramp, I may well buy my Aptera in 2025 to use for work, and wait until 2026 for the Cybertruck, if they even get to the RWD by then!
More like 100 pizzas, the thing has 34 cubic feet of space in the rear. Auto parts, medical companies, like Quest Diagnostics, fast food companies, Uber eats, insta cart all would love this vehicle. Last mile deliveries will eat this up, like messenger services, and anything that needs moving, across town.
Air resistance does not form water droplets into a teardrop shape, it forms it into a kind of lump shape that's flat on the bottom, almost like a little parachute.
Note: Many that don't know are talking on social media and those that know are not talking. I agree with those that question the real data from real scientific research. Thanks for sharing. 😊
I think you hit the nail on the head regardless of his comment here. To be honest before opening your mouth about anything to inform others, due diligence should be done. I've been following Aptera since their start. Instead of formulating your own assumptions go to the source and get your answers just like the gentleman in this channel did and no that doesn't mean visiting their website or Wikipedia. It means pick up the phone can speak to someone from the company that can answer your questions or schedule and interview with someone form the company just like so many other youtubers have done.
Marquez is surrounded by a bunch of kids who like blurting out information non-factual information but I also don’t think he should stay his opinion like that
I wish Aptera would under-promise on range, the thousand miles is a range versus Sun versus time equation. It's aerodynamics-first design is the best. I think its appearance is a +.
On the issue of safety. Either Aptera will submit their vehicles for official car crash testing (NHTSA, EuroNCAP, etc.,) or they will not. If, as they and you claim, they would ace any such test, then why would they not have them tested? If they do submit for testing, and they get 5 stars across the board, then kudos to them. If they will not submit their vehicles for official testing, then any claims as to their safety should to be treated with extreme scepticism.
As the number of vehicle reservation climbed Aptera realized that could meet demand producing the carbon fiber bodies by hand. They partnered with CPC in Modena Italy (Italies "Motor City"), a company with 30 years of experience, to have them produce the Aptera bodies using their carbon fiber SMC and fiberglass SMC processes. This involved a considerable investment of money and time to machine the tooling to produce the components. The had to order 10 ton blocks if German steel that CPC needed to machine the massive die that they require to pressure mold the company's. CPC is also producing the aluminum belly pan for the vehicle. Thst development is just finishing up and I believe they have produced components for q6 production intent vehicles that are going to used for crash testing and validation. I think there is an estimated 4 to 6 months for that happen.
@@garywozniak7742 Make that 100 ton blocks of machine steel. Up to 5 of the Production intent vehicles will be crash tested by a third party to FMVSS Part 200 automotive standards by a third party, and the design includes air bags - none of which is required by the vehicle class. Many cars on the US market have no public crash test ratings available to the public due to lower production volumes, including from large manufacturers. Aptera is going above and beyond.
appreciate the response! The WVFRM crew are a great team an def just glossed over this subject. Healthy skepticism is a good thing. 1000 miles of range on a solar powered EV does sound kind of ridiculous! I think the people that made a big deal of this need to chill out just a bit!
While the range sounds ridiculous, we can't forget MKBHD is one of the largest youtube channels that advertised the false ranges of Teslas. The EPA has now instructed Tesla fix their range estimates. Given how important the transition away from non-renewables is, I don't think anyone with the audience of MKBHD should be given a pass for spreading misinformation about vehicles. How many people wasted their hard-earned money on a model 3 because Marques told them it got twice the real range it gets? At what point do we hold these morons accountable? Aptera is just the one we recognize. How many other times has MKBHD shill for or against products out of sheer ignorance or paid malice? I think he should try to reach out to Aptera to review Gamma, but tbh I bet his channel fizzles out over the next 3 years so it probably isn't worth it for Aptera. Older people don't care about his surface-level tech reviews and younger people don't care about a fringe millennial trying to sell them a cybertruk. His channel has become more about fancy camera movements someone competent could mimic with an insta-360 instead of providing valuable information to tech buyers. He called the only non-hybrid gas/electric vehicle ever a hybrid. He's not an auto journalist and we need to stop pretending these tech "influencers" know anything about cars.
Companies with bad ideas. Execution is hard enough as is, if you can’t even get an idea fleshed out then don’t bother trying. Many startups are just making slight iterations of things that already exist, imo they’re doomed. Here’s a slightly more expensive sedan (Lucid) here’s a slight iteration on an F150 (Lordstown) Also if the company isn’t keeping you updated, or being transparent about their activities. Usually cause something isn’t working
so... I'm sure they thought of this but I havent seen anyone ask/talk about it... the frame is aluminum/steel. the chassis is carbon fiber. if these are in contact with each other, you get insane corrosion. I'm hoping they've designed it such that the metal parts and the carbon fiber parts dont actually touch, but it would be good to confirm that.
As I understand it, you would need the steel and carbon to be electrically connected and have salt water present for a large amount of time. The Italian supercars don't seem to be having problems with corrosion, so I think Aptera will be fine. Hopefully.
If you look at the Aptera binc, body in carbon, there are dark, or black inner panels, and light or white external panels. The black inner panels are CF-SMC ( carbon fiber SMC). The white outer panels are FG-SMC (Fiberglass SMC). Since carbon fiber is electrically conductive it acts as a metal when it comes in contact with metals like aluminum or steel. If carbon fiber is in contact with either metal in the presence of an electrolye like water or salt water galvanic corrosion will occur. The metal, like the aluminum belly pan, become the anode and the carbon fiber becomes the cathode and some interesting but highly corrosive chemical reactions occur. I suspect that is why all of the outer panels and potentially some of the critical inner panel are made of fiberglass. Fiberglass is not electrically conductive and does not result in galvanic corrosion when it comes in contact with aluminum or steel.
Nice video! Just to be perfectly clear about Aptera: I believe almost all of their physics claims! They're like a maximum energy optimization science project with today's battery and material tech! Kinda reminds me of the Mercedes Vision EQXX I got to play with.
...I just have 0 confidence that the market for the product they're hoping to make is anywhere near big enough to keep the company alive. Which is a shame! See: Faraday Future, Lordstown, etc and even the current dire state of Lucid. I do hop they prove me wrong though, and if they prove me wrong I'll be first in line to check it out
It would be awesome if you did a video visiting and reviewing Aptera! Or an impressions video.
Idk how you got on this video this fast to comment this. You either have a great team or something cause the video has been up for less than an hour and less than 3k views surprised it popped up on your radar. I also 100% agree with you in that this vehicle seems designed for California and that’s about it. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think you would feel comfortable driving a three wheeled vehicle in the north east after that snow storm we had cause I would not want to and as you mentioned in the podcast driving that in Texas where everyone else is in a truck seems very unsafe. I personally think they will launch but then be in a similar situation as Lucid or what happened to Boosted
I agree with you 100%, and there's nothing wrong with what you said. Keep up the great work, mkbhd!
@@Melchirobin oddly enough, I think Texas or the midwest where there's a lot of wide open space might be where this vehicle would really shine. Here in CA, the speed limit for most freeways is still only about 65mph. in TX, the speed limit is 85 and once you get up to those speeds, aerodynamic drag really starts to hurt the range on a model Y or model 3. It would FASCINATING to see what sort of efficiency the aptera has at >80mph, that's where all of the aero design starts to come in handy, and why I think aptera would be the best vehicle for inter-city or interstate road travel...
One big difference between the other startups you mentioned and the aptera is that nearly all the others have a starting price of 100k+
The apera is around 20-30k
Of course that's no guarantee of success, but the luxury car market is significantly smaller
I had to drive around Carlsbad today and decided to locate Aptera so I could attend an event there later this month. It's located next to the Upper Deck trading card company. As I am driving around the facility I actually saw Gamma zip behind me in the parking lot. It was breathtaking to see, effortlessly cutting through the air. I think it was Chris M behind the yoke. I drove around the back and saw a GMC in Aptera livery with a flatbed, a loading dock, and an open access ramp leading inside. I had a vision of myself, later this year, returning to pickup my Accelerator Launch Edition. It's going to be great.
I've been into cars for about 17 years; since I turned 13. I remember when the internet said "Tesla is dead" but I was seeing a Roadster a month and then a Model S per week.
I lived in Santa Monica Ca when "Tesla [was] dead". I don't give a fuck what Autoblog writers in upstate NY think; California is the proving ground. I guarantee I'll start seeing Apteras in the wild while morons online whine that they don't exist.
If tesla can do it turning a super-car into a shittier toyota 20 years ago, Aptera can easily succeed today.
@@vorg_big mistake to compare Aptera to Tesla. The car is technically fine but the business model does not make sense - it will not sell in the numbers required to get the cost down.
@bluetoad2668
Aptera has a manufacturing process via CPC that even Tesla will will appreciate. Watch as this startup goes cash flow positive in record time.
The model 3 proves this wrong.
"Tesla is insane to make a sedan. Everyone wants SUVs"
Nope, traditional OEMs just don't know what people want; which is cheap and efficient transportation. Model 3 was the best selling car last year in the US.
@@bluetoad2668
@@bluetoad2668 Aptera is following the same plan as Tesla - build a low-volume 2-seater first then build a more mainstream car for the masses. Tesla only built about 2500 Roadsters before moving on to the Model S. Aptera will also be looking at making a 4-wheel 4-seater after the initial production run of the 3-wheeler. Having said that, they have 10,000 pre-orders for the Launch Edition, and almost 40,000 more pre-orders for the other versions, so the first Aptera is looking at being way more successful than the first Tesla.
As someone who’s invested in Tesla since 2012, the way so many people dismiss Aptera today reminds me A LOT of the way many people completely dismissed Tesla up until 2018 or so. As a product guy I’m getting the same “this car looks amazing” vibes that I got from Tesla back then and no other EV company since.
Same! It seriously feels like Tesla lovers are now like the old Tesla haters
Did you know that both companies were started the same year, 2005? Only one of them has mass-produced any vehicles. The other hasn't produced a single production vehicle and hasn't met a single promised deadline. Not a single deadline.
I cannot stand Musk, but let's be fair, Tesla did it and Aptera never will.
Did I drink the Kool-Aid for many years? Yes I did. I placed an order. I bought the stock. And I stopped drinking the Kool-Aid in May when I realized they push backed production even more years, and I saw they were no longer going to be offering wheel hub motors, yet they kept selling the car as if it would have all-wheel drive and hub motors. That is called bait-n-switch. It's fraud. I'm in sales. You just don't do that and expect to succeed. And it's just wrong.
Another safety concept is *deflection* vs engagement. I.E. the curved surfaces tend to deflect off of an object that is impacting the chassis. This increases the length of time that is available to bring the Aptera to a stop. Longer time to dissipate energy = *much* lower G-forces on the occupants. And like an Formula 1 car, the outboard wheels can shear off and this dissipates energy as well, and the curved sides of the Aptera then move to the side.
Rectangular vehicles tend to wrap around an object, and this shortens the time available to dissipate the energy of the impact.
This of the Aptera shape as an egg with just a little lubricant on the outside. Since the Graphite body is so hard, in some situations it will just slide to one side or the other.
I built a solar powered pickup truck (by converting a Chevy S10) in the early 2000s which. Had a 1.1 KW array where a carpenters rack would go. I got between 15 and 25 miles of free driving a day between April and October here in Maine. Depended on how well I kept the array pointed at the sun. Drove it about 3000 miles a year on sunshine. Could get 2 to 3 miles per kWh around town and could carry about 1000 lb in it’s 6nft bed.
Excellent!
We hope this will be another Tesla startup success story.
Hopefully without the baggage of Musk being a part of
Aptera started same time as Tesla and failed. You think "second coming" more likely now that it's crowdfunded?
ua-cam.com/video/QwHm6aefGLQ/v-deo.html
@@Palbizu Yeah...less union-busting and endangering workers etc.
I hope not, because Tesla's build quality is crap.
It's hard not to harbor negative feelings when your peers don't have the same context as you do due to circumstances, but this video Drew has demonstrated to us that we can address the context charitably and leave the door opens for future discussion / collaboration
Kudos to both creators for not making a negative drama outta this
Both are absolute professionals which is why this can be handled clearly and well on both sides. While I hope mkbhd is wrong I can see the rational of his thought process. Noone is screeming scam or attacking.
APTERA IS COMNG, I WILL BE DRIVING ONE IN LESS THAN A YEAR ! (ACCELERATOR) Keep up the good work.
I hope so!
Ditto! 🙂
You and me both. Currently in the top 100, hope to drive mine home in time for Thanksgiving.
SpongeBob says 2 years...
You will not be driving your Aptera later this year and I have strong doubts about 2025 too.
the only ting is... water drops are NOT teardrop shaped at all. Just check and google physics research on the subject. It is relatively new but not that new...
Thanks for this! People on the internet always trying to stir up controversy…thanks for being an adult and giving context and not giving into the temptation to make this a negative topic (we all know negative gets more clicks). Appreciate your content.
7:48 A raindrop is not teardrop shaped when it falls. It’s closer to the shape of a red blood cell.
and dont forget the repair right policy
Aptera is not for everyone, nor for a majority of vehicle use cases. It’s an excellent commuter car, 2nd car, or vehicle for single or empty nesters. Look at all the successful 2-seater cars sold. Clearly, that’s a huge market.
I’ll use it in a southern state and be happy averaging 25 mi/day from solar and charging overnight at a standard electrical outlet paying only 14 cents/kWh. My average daily drive is well under 50 mi/day. I think Aptera driver’s greatest challenge is learning how to avoid potholes with 3-wheels.
@@billsmith5960 How many Corvette's would you sell if it got the equivalent operating cost of 200 mpg and cost only $30K. I think at least 10X volume. And this EV looks better than a Corvette.
@@billsmith5960 Remember that the cost of an Aptera is a fraction of what the Corvette is and that even the the 0 to 60 time for a c5 Corvette is not as good as an AWD Aptera. Aptera has FAR wider appeal.
@@billsmith5960 Both My wife and I have gone to the effort to ride in a prototype. Look at the grin on the faces of others who have also done so, or do it yourself if you want to get a better understanding of the importance of that performance to market size.
Aptera themselves said that they were expecting an initial market of around 4,000 vehicles - larger than Tesla's. In fact paid pre-orders have shown it to be around 20 times that - so far.
I live in a suburban area of Santiago Chile, work from home, I go one or twice a week to the supermarket around 4 KM away, and in average once a week to Santiago around 35KM away, it would mean I travel for free basically, we have good sun here
My runabout lives on the driveway here in Sydney, open to the sky. I'd likely charge the thing 100% off sun alone as I only need to drive somewhere every other day and go no more than 20km round trip. I'd happily buy the top model with max solar, but with the smallest pack.
Wow..... ! Excellent education about the Aptera. I have one on order.
I'm most excited to see Kyle Conner and Out of Spec channel get an Aptera to test and compare. I also think he'll manage to get some good seat time in one of the early production.
Love Kyle at Out of Spec! My burning question is who will he make drive the 14ish hours to conduct the 70mph range test.
I want to see Kyle test the Jetson One.
Aptera will succeed, just keep focused on their mission. Everybody is not a fan of the Cybertruck, but as production ramps up they will become more and more popular and soon it will become the Best selling truck of all time.
Aptera is doing something good by starting with something different and unique and it will grow on people in the years to come. Just like Telo with their truck, all these companies will succeed as long as they remain focused on their mission and not over extend and try to grow too fast.
It truly blows my mind that the Cybertruk still has like 40k reservations and people think the Aptera won't succeed. It's almost universally more appealing and there's no CEO or quality baggage.
If Tesla can sell an ugly truck with the fit and finish of a crumpled piece of foil; then Aptera is a guaranteed success.
@@vorg_the cyber truck has over 2 million preorders and growing, Aptera will grow when they release a product right now it’s just a possibility with no guarantee 🤞
The cybertruk preorder was 10x cheaper than any previous Tesla reservation and the product delivered is 2x the price and conceptually 100% different than the truck promised at reveal.
Until tesla converts those preorders into sales; it's meaningless. The cybertruk is not what Elon sold people; contrastingly the Aptera has only changed for the better since preorders started.
@@Dsnybx911
See, this is why I immediately recognized the potential of the Aptera the moment I first saw it. My fsther got interested in three wheel vehicles about the time I was in college and spent several years studying them. This was all amateur hobbyist stuff back then. He learned about the geometry of three wheelers, and how the low rolling resistance was perfect for electric vehicles. And he learmed about using lightweight materials to get as much rsnge out of a battery as you can. This was in the days of the Pulse enclosed motorcycle, so my dad ended up designing a car that was shaoed like a fighter jet, with eheels out on the end of the "wings". It would have been aerodynamic as all get out, but he never built it.
When I saw the Aptera, though, I immediately recognized it ss similar to my dad's design. I knew the aerodynamics and the three wheel chassis would give it incredible range. And when I learned that it was going to be made of lightweight carbon fiber, I knew their claim of 1000 miles to a charge, and 40 miles per day on solar power weren't just wishful thinking. It looked like what I knew it should look like.
I was a little unsure about the width, but from the drag coefficients I have seen, it looks like width isn't as important as keeping that teardrop shape.
What people dont understand is that luck plays a big role in sucess,so you can have a great product and still fail!Maybe it was just the wrong time,or no help from the goverment or something else!The Aptera is a great product and i hope they can massproduce them!
I was trying to avoid going into detail about 2009, but you are right, I was talking about the 2005 Aptera when I said I first saw it.
Just to be quick and honest about it I think the failure was a combination of the technology being not quite there yet, and a hostile takeover of the company. But that's not really relevant to the 2019 Aptera Motors.
The Aptera could still fail but at this time I think it is in the hands of the public. We can never really predict if the Aptera will be the next big trend, completely rejected by its target audience, or somewhere in between.
Thanks Drew. I didn't realize he made some offhanded comments. I have some thoughts as well! 😃
Even mkbhd’s comment on this video is so disappointing, about how he has 0 confidence that there’s a market for this vehicle, but at least he said he’s open to be proven wrong
@@BSingh-on4qr you misread that. He said he has zero confidence there's a LARGE enough market to sustain the company. He also said he hopes they make a go of it. We won't know the answer to that until five or ten years from now.
@apteraownersclub this would be a great topic for conversation on the channel - wait I think it just came out 😂❤
The test cars should be ready this year. We will see if they can meet those safety estimates.
You are very generous and forgiving of MKBHD. If he is too busy to do the research and due diligence on a product he is “reviewing” for the public, he should NOT say anything.
Didn’t realize they talked about the Aptera. Great response to clear some things up. It kind of sucked that they were a bit negative about the car due to it not being out and no research but no one’s perfect.
I disagree; if you don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t opine. They were out of line.
@@altosackYeah I can agree to that too. If you don’t know something that you’re talking about, don’t talk too deep about it. Opinions are fine but most likely it’s not accurate.
when it comes to EVs and cars, MKBHD sucks. he just doesn't know that much. he has only gotten into the topic because of his clout.
If you don't know why the Aprera looks the way it does then you just don't get it.
😮I'd say more generally about the Aptera is that it's scaleable. It's scaleable in that the manufacturing can increase about as fast as those Italian tools can stamp out the structural components. Scaleable in that we don't have to restructure the electrical grid to accommodate 10 million superchargers. Tech optimists don't think about Scaleable, or don't even understand it. But look at this way. The Highway system in southern California isn't scaleable. It worked great back in the day, but chucking billions of dollars at it in the last 50 years hasn't produced a commensurate improvement. What you get is two hour commutes on 10 lane roads. Ultimately it would have been better, cheaper, if they'd kept upgrading urban trolleybuses.
Similarly, your Tesla works great now, but how does it work when everyone has one? How does the grid cope? Where do all the superchargers go? But the assumption is that it all gets easier, the more e cars we get. There's a geometric growth mindset, but cars aren't smart phone apps and this model is going to hit the stops.
I really hope to see aptera succeed. I still remember their original ICE version from like 2008. I think the new EV landscape is perfect for a revival of their ideas and hopefully people will keep them alive.
Honestly I'm not a fan of MKBHD. I think his videos are a general example of modern influencer marketing. Also I've seen him give some pretty misleading explanations of things in his videos on general tech, he's definitely not the technical type and he really just says what the companies claim about the products.
I mean I remember I found him when he used to claim the Audio Technica m50x was one of the best value headphones, they really sound pretty poor. I remember him also doing things like range tests for bluetooth which is always a misleading test as it's nearly impossible to have identical variables. I think he's mainly popular as he says things that sounds like they make sense to the general person, likely because that's about where his understanding of things ends too.
He's made multiple videos calling the iPhone mini "shit" because his hands are big.
He's not a serious journalist or a product reviewer. He's a lucky kid that youtube sponsors.
No auto-enthusiast takes him seriously. In fact, he's almost universally hated among real auto journalists. That's what happens when you try to capitalize on treating cars like disposable electronics, though.
MKBHD doesn't have much technical knowledge in my opinion, but most of the popular reviewers of cell phones don't really dig into the engineering and their understanding of the tech is pretty superficial in my opinion. I always thought that he overfocused on the market leaders (Apple and Samsung) rather than looking at what was innovative, and he rarely talked about the things that consumers should care about: durability, fixability, longevity, replaceable battery, 3.5 mm audio jack, microSD card slot, the ability to root the phone and unlock the bootloader and install another operating system, etc.
He makes fancy adverts for products with a smattering of 'opinions' ... like most tech channels. A good presenter but no real knowledge of anything he talks about.
Your view of MKBHD seems pretty uncharitable... I think one thing that sets the Aptera community apart is that we're open to considering ideas - even ideas that we're not fond of. We look at the science, we do the research. We're objective.
So far, I haven't loved MKBHD's early opinions on the car. He seems a bit more skeptical and critical than I would like... That said, let's not pretend that this is some "easy challenge". Breaking into such a dominated industry with an obscure idea has a lot of risk! Even if the concept and products are good, there are hurdles to become successful.
All I'm saying - if we want other people to be charitable, I think it's important to be charitable to others as well. His content might not always be perfect, but I think he does a pretty good job about providing objective reviews from his perspective, which he is pretty good about explaining. They're not as technical as other channels, but that doesn't mean that they're poor reviews. Even if you don't agree with his choice of headphones, I think the points he makes - and the comparisons - are valid. Maybe his taste doesn't match yours, but I'm almost positive he's had more experience with the headphone market than you have, and I would be careful with saying his well-informed opinion isn't valid - much less extending that to his opinion on EVs.
And if you think he's being unfair to this one, take a look at some of his other electric EV critiques - many of them are far from glowing.
Hopefully he sees this and looks into aptera properly. He briefly mentioned them as well in one of the other car videos a few months ago and also slightly negatively
JerryJigEverything should slap some sense into marques. He's at least driven the damn prototypes.
It was an innocent video then he came here and commented some horse shit about lordstown and faraday future after shilling God only knows how much vaporware to his audience.
UA-cam commentators still need to do responsible work. Sloppy work should be not acceptable there any more than in "traditional" media. MKBHD work was irresponsible, I don't care how busy he chooses to be. (It is a choice, after all.)
It’s impossible to know everything at once. I don’t blame him at all for not doing more research
A lot of people thought Tesla would fail and Cybertruck would never ship. Most would probably claim (incorrectly) that VW outsells Tesla in the USA. I don't think Marques' ignorance is malicious ... he's just disappointingly wrong.
Spot on. He's like a top 100 youtuber; they constantly claim they should be take seriously as journalists; but he can't even pass the basis to hit the opinion section of a local newspaper.
I'm glad aptera has strayed away from influencers and stuck with industry experts for their test drive videos. Seriously, geniuses in the marketing department giving the prototype to Donut instead of a tech guy.
The tech speaks for itself. Anyone can use the coefficient of drag and the battery sizes to calculate ranges. Plus we know it's about 700 watts of solar; so add that to the calculation. We can even roughly test the aerodynamics because Aptera posted the damn 3d model of the car. The only things we can't test in calculations are how it feels to drive.
That alone is why Aptera should continue to focus on auto and EV/ Renewable channels.
@TailosiveEV Then he is entertainment, not serious journalism. That's fine, but don't confuse the two.
@TailosiveEV Then the simple And correct answer would be ... "I don't know enough and can't comment"
Your answer disappointed me a bit.
what about maintainence?who does alignments for my Aptera?
I personally believe that once Aptera hits the road, it will pique many peoples interest and sales will explode and an even larger sales growth will happen once a 4 seater comes out. It is true the 2 seater is a bit of a niche market car. Fortunately, I am in that niche, and that niche is larger than most people think. Plus with the large trunk/storage space, it will do well with fleet delivery and servicing companies as maintenance and fuel cost reign supreme in that business area.
I completely agree. My wife and I have ridden in a prototype, and the experience was eye opening. The production vehicles will be even more attractive.
You do a great presenting accurate information. I would love to see you do a video on your opinion of Canoo. I like what they are doing by going to fleet customers and not actively pursuing retail customers. What’s more I really like both their products that make sense to me. I hope to hear your thoughts.
The safety issue is a joke people have been killed by cars while sitting on the couch in their house, you could be walking into Walmart or on a sidewalk and get hit by a car, driving an Aptera is safer than crossing the street, nothing is safe in this world just safer but there’s no guarantee of survival with anything in any vehicle
This response is well reasoned, but the comments by the 2 guests on the show, however off the cuff, are childish and reckless given the respect people have for their channel. They have the power of influence and with that power comes responsibility, not great though given that they aren't that popular
As someone who lives in a country that technically has summer everyday, I hope that this company will succeed so they can sell the cars worldwide.
MKBHD and friends uniformed negative comments only make them look like Joe Rogan level intelligence. They could have said, "We don't know and will look into it, but they claim...".
How much longer do we have to wait for the Aptera to come out?
probably less than a year.
@@GoClimbARockEh that would be cool, I definitely wanna try this thing out
I'm so excited for PI builds!
great vid as always!
Same here! Thanks!
Great response, thanks! Hey, what do you think...PI builds this month? Im going for a visit the second week of February...hope to see one, really hoping for a test drive.
January would be great but I’m guessing it’ll be February-March, good things take time
@@billsmith5960 Oh I hope so!
I think the reason for the anger from those of us that know Aptera is that MKBHD says he "thinks" it'll never come out. His statement insinuates that he has put thought and research into the product and company when in fact he knows nothing about them. This gives a false sense of negativity to his millions of followers that is unjustified and isn't credible.
They've never sold a car ever and currently have no release date, so MKBHD is right so far. They're just stealing money from poor people who have never invested before.
And that is all his followers will hear, because they won't delve any deeper for themselves. :(
Honestly one thing I don't think he is considering is just the sustainability aspect. I won't lie I am not a fan of cars in general and scientists that study sustainability have been warning about cars since the 90s. The massive infrastructure cost of adding electric stations all over the country and at homes (not to mention how the fuck they are going to get that done in apartments) is a major problem. Walkable cities, mass transit and bikes should be the main focus of our government but I find the Aptera one of the few cars that could be a fair compromise. Able to charge by solar and also they mentioned you don't need a special charging station would make it way easier for adoptability for the average person. Going to be my next car.
I have a question, what does the car do to keep the cabin cool during summer where it wants to be soaking up the sun? I recon a screen blocking the windshield will not be preferred since there are some solar panel under the windshield.
I'm sure we all want Aptera to succeed, but the odds are heavily stacked against them, or any company, trying to survive. Putting all your hopes and dreams into a car company that's not yet making profit, is like starting a new Netflix series and acting as if there's a huge chance you'll get to see the end of the five season story arc. He's come in the comments and added more info (pin that when you see it btw) and what he says makes 100% sense.
Yes, I agree that if you do a deep dive it would seem that Aptera are on the right track. However, there are at least a dozen companies I've been hoping will do a thing with an EV that actually matters, that still haven't years later and so many, many, many, many that had seemingly good product ideas that didn't get into production. Prototypes are easy, production is hard. I will be fully confident that they will make a go of it, several years after they have been in production at high rates and showing a profit.
Completely fair points you made. I feel that doing a deep dive into Aptera would answer some of these questions though. They are unlike any other EV manufacturer, truly.
I thought the same about Aptera when I first stumbled on the company a year or 2 back. but now I get it. have a reservation and invested, so am looking forward to seeing if they can get to production.
I love the aptera tho and do want it to succeed
Research is the whole key, with any type of startups....
If MKBHD were an engineer, or had an electronics, coding or design degree of some kind, I'd be more inclined to pay attention to his ramblings re. tech, but as things stand his stature as an 'influencer' fails to impress me. He also seems just a bit full of himself, just a bit entitled-acting, which doesn't endear him to me either.
Spot on. Nail in the coffin for me was when he said "Apple should kill the iPhone mini because it's personally too small for my hands".
He's not a serious journalist. He's a paid advertiser. Good on Toyota for getting the word out about solar viability though. 7 Miles per day is a lot for any vehicle that isn't an Aptera.
he's a sellout
Around 3:20 I think they were sharing stats on the highland model 3 which does have more range than the model 3 we have in US. Once highland releases in America then that comparison may be more apples to apples. Not trying to say they’ll be the same but they’ll be closer than they are in your example
EPA standard is also getting more strict for 2024 releases
Raindrops aren't shaped like teardrops. They're actually very flat. Just like it would be when sitting on a flat surface. The only difference is the surface is air when falling.
Point being teardrop is the most aerodynamic shape. Aptera is the most teardrop looking vehicle
Ginger isn't too good of a thinker. The reason a teardrop forms its shape is because the drop tries to cling to the surface it's leaving, and has nothing to do with aerodynamics. The point (as in like a spear) is far more aerodynamic than the almost semicircle of the leading edge of a teardrop. I'm blocked, so if you see this, copy it into the thread please?
@@TailosiveEV you miss his point. Tear drop shape isnt' the most aerodynamic. That shape is actually a half circle with the flat part crashing against the wind. Obviously you don't want that shape in a car.
One of those science youtube guys has a short on it.
The most aerodynamic shape you can make a vehicle capable of rolling on roads and holding passengers is the Aptera
@@TailosiveEV Yeah, I agree. We are just clarifying the concept itself. You can see what we mean on a short made by Veritasium about the real shape of a water drop.
big ytber talking out of their ass is more common than you think
I've have not seen a comment on where the 110 volt plug in is at. It does not apear in the photos of the nacs connect.
It takes a simple adapter to plug the 110 cord into the NACS connector. The same can be done with 220/240 cords.
does this also work for pluging in exturnal solar panels?
@@JohnMatheson-s8t Not necessarily. There is a built in controller for high voltage DC or AC to DC. The external solar panels are likely to be 12 volt DC, and I am not sure that they will cover that range. There may be a different 12 volt socket that can be used. Good question!
@user-fw3bx1wz2n Aptera talked about possibly offering an optional panel, I think it was 1kWatt, that could be fit in the hatch. It would have a cover and som sort of collapsible stand. When possible you could set it up and plug it into the Aptera via some standard port.
Mkbhd is actually a pretty decent car reviewer. He has a channel dedicated to it called auto focus
When I heard the podcast I knew you would respond
So why did you not give the link to the MKBHD video? I can't find it.
In the description
@@TailosiveEV I can't find it in the description. The letters MKBHD are not in the description.
7:50 Little detail: funnily enough that is not at all the shape that a raindrop takes moving through air, it becomes instead a sort of frisbee
7:45 Correction: Water doesn't actually drop in "teardrop" shapes. it's more spherical than anything. Look into it.
Thanks for the video. I just read MKBHD's comment below. I have been a fan of Aptera for over ~13 years since their first endeavor. We are early reservation holder (#495) as well as small-time investors and considering joining the accelerator program. Having said that, I do have concerns about a sufficiently large market in THE USA for this 2-seater, 3-wheel vehicle. We currently have two 4-wheel EVs and our 3rd car is a 2000 Honda Insight with a manual transmission. Only 17020 Gen-1 Insights were made and majority came to the USA. Despite it was way ahead of its time, Insight did NOT sell in this SUV/truck country. Hopefully Aptera is working on a 3/4 seater Aptera 2.0 to follow up the current model for long-term success and sustainable business. I don't think the # wheels is that big of a deal. I SINCERELY HOPE I AM WRONG.
I currently drive one of those Insights. Having ridden in an Aptera prototype, I know that the performance is much more akin to the original Tesla Roadster at 1/3rd the price, and still has much more utility. The Honda was greatly lacking in fun factor in comparison. I am not worried about Aptera's market once people experience it.
Hello, I love the APTERA, and wish them the very best, in your dealings with the company was there any talk of how the Aptera would perform in cold snow climates?, how much of an impact would this have on the batteries? would the stability still be there or would the vehicle require snow tires?
Tire choices will be no different. Any tire that is good in snow will work on the Aptera's standard 16" wheels. They are doing testing in cold, and the Aptera will not be different from other EV's. Cold temperatures have a big effect on battery efficiency and range. Prewarming the pack will be a big help on those days, and Aptera can do it when you're away from home or a charger because it can solar charge.
Teardrop works for small objects. For large objects, I bet a spear is better. A stretched drop. You get a decent internal space, it's just narrow. An extended Aptera might not lose a lot of range but have 2 or 4 more seats or a lot of extra and convenient cargo space. And lst not forget: way more solar panel surface. A single meter added to its widest part, not moving a molecule of extra air out of the way (in theory based on frontal surface) would be more efficient for energy per unit of distance per unit of payload. Trains and ships are efficient that way. Trains needing infrastructure still but going fast, ships a bit slower but all water is their infrastructure, there's just no tank stop halfway an ocean. Or are there?
At around 7:50 you allude to a raindrop taking on a teardrop shape. Actually, a rain drop starts out as a spherical shape, up to about .08 inches, around a dust mote or smoke particle, due to surface tension. As it starts falling its shape starts to look more like the top half of a hamburger bun. As it accumulates moisture, while it passes through moist air, the influence of surface tension decreases due to its increase in size. As the raindrop increases in size past around a quarter inch, there is sufficient decreased influence of surface tension and increased influence of air moving over the rain drop to eventually break it up into two or more rain drops and the process continues until it strikes something solid.
You seem to not understand the difference of an object in motion in a fluid versus a sphere in a zero-gravity vacuum.
Hint: Aptera drives in an atmosphere.
Raindrop, teardrop ..it really has more of a spermatozoa shape, maybe call it the Aptera Milt...
@@TheDapperham Cool. I like your sense of humor. Mike
@@vorg_ Congratulations. The Aptera is also not a liquid.
Ngl, I would love to see those Aptera crash test videos when they come out
Should be exciting. The fact that Aptera says they are going to crash test it alone should be a green flag to anyone. They don't need to. It's legally a motorcycle. But they are going to because they actually want to change transportation.
I'm certain Aptera will share those results when they have them. They have always been totally open and honest, imo.
As an Aptera investor and early reservation holder, my greatest concern is if they have enough capital to ramp up production. Undoubtedly they will face production hell with all sorts of problems to solve which sucks up cash. This Sandy Munro vintage engineer believes their design is viable, but also considerable risk.
They do not, which is why they continue to beg influencers to spread positive news to stem the tide of people asking for their deposits back. Aptera doesn't even have regulatory approval to sell the cars even if they could make them tomorrow. They are slow walking their customers to bankruptcy, at which point the big investors get the liquidation $ and the reservation holders get an apology letter.
Not true. They’re a licensed vehicle dealer on the state of California. They could sell their prototypes legally if they wanted to
@@killr0y You have already shown that you have done zero research into Aptera's financial situation and the risk to deposit holders. Perhaps that is why you don't want anyone to know your actual name.
@@TailosiveEV sell prototypes? 🙄
@@killr0y Just making the obvious point that Aptera can sell cars in California because they are a licensed dealer there. The entire Aptera team is focused on bringing the vehicle to production, and if you check out their numerous reports on design and development, you will get a sense of how viable Aptera is.
Aptera would be a great commuter EV if it used LFP batteries instead. Also they should have a cheaper vrsiom without solar panels, for those of us that live in the far north with very dark winters and hardly any sun. Since Aptra only seats 2 people it's mainly usetul for commuting and light shopping
LFP batteries do not do as well in the cold that I am presently experiencing in Iowa - at present -5 and on the way down - and the NMC batteries have the required power density. Chris Anthony has founded and as CEO took public an LFP battery company. He knows as much as anyone how they perform. Perhaps he may use some in models where the performance works for some markets.
@@n.brucenelson5920 Actually they perform very well as long as they are kept warm. The combo of NMC and solar makes little sense, since they are sensitive to overheating and solar makes sense in sunny places. Where I live we get only a few hours of sun in the winter, solar makes no sense. LFP, on the other hand, works great in hot weather. So in summary, either LFP + solar in sunny hot climates or NMC and no solar in cold climates. I would take LFP during winter anyway since they can be charged to 100% without much degradation unlike NMC and can be recharged many times more also.
@@SkepticalCaveman LFP does not come near the required power density for the design goals, and the solar is cost effective for us even in Iowa, where 62% of our grid power comes from wind. Aptera's controllers are designed to manage the 2170 NMC batteries with even more care than Tesla has with their Model 3s using the same cells.
@@n.brucenelson5920 modern LFP batteries are energy dense enough. LFP are also cheaper to keep down cost. Even if I wanted a EV trike for only two people I wouldn't buy the Aptera, because then I would pay extra for expensive solar panels that I don't want and expensive batteries that will last shorter than the cheaper ones.
@SkepticalCaveman You will be surprised how much solar power is available even in winter in northern latitudes. I'm at 45º N and I will still get miles in mid-winter. Where are you living?
Yeah I was surprised on his comments lol
Multizone Airbags?
A bit unrelated but I'm a bit underwhelmed by Aptera. I think the future of vehicles should be very compact to be both power and space efficient. While the Aptera seems to be accomplishing the goals they set out for, it's disappointing to me that it's almost larger than the average car. I wonder what the point of the sleek and short design is when it's still basically just kind of a crappier sedan.
(By that I mean with similar materials and road-space you can have a vehicle that takes up the same amount of space, be a little taller, safer, a lot more capable of different road conditions, have more insulation, etc.)
I'm still excited for it, but I'm more excited to see future models actually deliver better size efficiency.
An Elio style two-seater would be more space efficient, while maintaining the aero efficiencies, but it would also lose a lot of cargo capacity, and therefore utility. It'll be interesting to see if anyone can make anything that has the best of both worlds.
@@GoClimbARockEh I don't really care about the cargo. I care more about emissions and traffic. One person driving to and from work taking up 90 square feet of road and parking (and that's just using smaller averages). There was a study done that showed if 10% of vehicles were motorcycles, traffic congestion could decrease by up to 63%. While there are other variables to consider, such as safety and decreased congestion often leads to more vehicles on the road, the study and evidence from Europe suggests that smaller vehicles are better.
There will still definitely be people that need cargo space, especially for the odd occasion. Some people will need pickups, but most people would be fine with just using their passenger seat or small trunk for groceries or a trailer hitch for bigger transports or even calling a buddy with a pickup or moving company for big jobs.
@@DrewColpursYeah it's not going to be the one car that works for everyone. No car is! It fits my needs nicely though, and the cargo space is a critical part of that.
@DrewColpurs Aptera's design combines a very low drag body design with enough surface area to allow for 700 watts of solar , with efficient wheel motors, with a weight around 1,800 lbs an an efficiency of 100 wH/mile it get 337 mpg-e . Side by side seating, strong passenger cell, air bags crumple zones and 7 feet of room and 32.5 cubic feet of storage behind the seats. It even has a tent option that can sleep two in the back. If you want a motorcycle there is no shortage of them .
@@garywozniak7742 The Aptera is great for what they're aiming for, but having a "motorcycle" that has 3 or 4 wheels for stability and ease of use, and an interior for heating and cooling is what I'm hoping eventually gets developed.
Not looking good for CyberlandR with the inverted smaller bed and the limited range not to mention the range extender…
I _think_ it was just an opinion or off the cuff remark, but coming from someone with his audience, it can do damage. Marques does amazing tech reviews, but his car reviews always seem to miss something, major or minor. Take his (automotive) comments with a grain of salt.
What symbol did you use to get that italics font? Curious
@@paulas_lens underscore, like in your username. _ word _ (without the spaces) will look like _this._
Good job no bs
If i lived somewhere with mostly Sun and a longer commute, i would have this on my short list of evs to get.
Cheers
I live in Iowa where it is presently -5 F and headed down and we are buried in snow. We can't wait to get ours and report on it in these conditions.
the three dues had no clue what it meant when they read the kwh
Just FYI raindrops don't actually form a raindrop shape
Then he shouldn't do it, or just admit his research is weak on this company.
15:00
So if he does a review, will he issue an apology?
I don’t think he needs to. He’s just working with the information he’s aware of
Forged carbon must be better suited than carbon layups in terms of catastrophic breakage.
It is certainly WAY less expensive in both labor and materials cost to produce.
The materials ability to absorb the crash impact rather then transferring the energy to the passengers is what matters. Not if the vehicles lsurvives the impact. The crash test results should answer some of these questions.
What are the costs of each aptera unit?
All we know are the price targets that they announced in 2020, and those haven't changed. There has been completely unfounded speculation. Although tooling costs have increased greatly since then, and there has been considerable inflation, battery costs, amount of labor, and scrap material produced in producing each vehicle have all decreased rather dramatically. We are still likely more than 6 months away from knowing where the final pricing will end up.
@@n.brucenelson5920 what were the prices before? That was really my question
@@billsmith5960 so I can probably expect somewhere under 50 K for the 250 mile version and somewhere above that for the thousand mile version if I’m getting that right with today’s inflation lol
Honestly, he should have to eat his words and apologize for that statement if/when it comes out.
No not really. He’s working with the knowledge he has. No one will remember it at that point anyway
Except he's actively marketing himself as an auto influencer for OEMS.@@TailosiveEV We're looking into working with him now, but I'm fully opposed. I don't think auto OEMs should bother with tiktok/youtube personalities that don't have the audience that aligns with the buyer. A Doug DeMuro video has about 100x the cost effectiveness of MKHB. His channel is meant to give as little information as possible while advertising a product. He's even made multiple videos explaining how much they spend on camera rigs to augment the lack of quality their videos otherwise represent. Compare that to Doug, whom uses an iphone to film himself and gets 1/2 the video views on 30+ minute videos with maybe a quarter the subscribers.
MKBHD might genuinely be interested in cars, but his videos don't reflect that. It seems he doesn't care about the car; but more about the entertainment system.
MKBHD can sell a nintento switch, sure; but that's a tiny expense and a different audience. EV buyers are adults. They don't care about the video games you can play while charging; they want to know how the vehicle can save them money and better the future for their children.
MKBHD only reviews cars for two reasons- desperation to grow his audience, and tesla marketing pushing this meme that automobiles are just laptops now.
@TailosiveEV a simple statement in his Aptera review video going "ya know I once said that I didn't think it would ever deliver. I was wrong and I'm sorry I said that." Is not a huge ask.
@@TailosiveEV Warren Redlich needs to be held to an apology too.
Another issue they brought up was the giant size of EV Hunmmers, Cybertruck etc. Not a whole lot of people are speaking about how EVs were also suppose get smaller overall for their efficiency.
Yeah, he's getting into cars, but doesn't really seem to know anything about them in general, nor do the other hosts from what I've seen. It's a fresh perspective from a tech angle for sure, but everything they say about cars is to be taken with a huge chunk of salt. I'm a fan of MKBHD & co. as well, but there are some caveats :D
Very few on his crew seem very nerdy and in-depth tech, some are like hipsters who know THEIR part of the job like editing, audio etc. whatever. A lot of them probably don't even own a car.
thank you so much for this 😊
Correction: People don't think 3-wheel cars are less safe because they have one less wheel. We naturally think they will be made less safe because 3-wheel cars are classified as auto cycles in the US and don't require the same safety standards and rigorous safety tests that 4 wheel cars do. Most of us who know anything about cars realize that the third wheel car concept is just a go to way for various start ups to get into car production with far lower start up costs precisely because they can skip safety tests and all the added cost that goes with it. I'm hopeful of Aptera and and am investor, but I still remain sceptical of its real safety since they don't have any real world tests yet, just computer models, so we are just taking their word for it, which is not worth anything in the world of hype and lies. Personally, as someone who rides a motorcycle as a daily commuter for both fun and economic savings, I would be fine buying an Aptera even if it was not as safe as a regular car, because it's still substantially safer than a motorcycle and has the potential to be far more efficient to drive and maintain while being funner to drive than a regular sedan or crossover. If it winds up being just as safe or safer than most regular cars, while costing less than a Model 3, that just a bonus for me.
It's the math, and physics. The calculations show that Aptera will be as safe or safer than most new cars, and what you didn't mention is that Aptera will be doing crash testing though it is not required. Those results will be available before production starts. I look forward to seeing those results.
Very solid, fair and clear response Drew to the request to respond to MKBHD and his podcast clip. Appreciate your balanced thoroughness and reasonable/respectful tone. Keep up the great work.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hungry Howie's, Domino's & Papa John's should be looking to get thousands of Aptera. I drive for JJ but I've drove pizza delivery, too. There are big orders that would require more than the space of the front seat, but the back should be able to hold a few big bags, maybe 20 pizzas, another 4-8 up front. I'd love to use mine as a delivery vehicle. At this point, with the slow Cybertruck ramp, I may well buy my Aptera in 2025 to use for work, and wait until 2026 for the Cybertruck, if they even get to the RWD by then!
More like 100 pizzas, the thing has 34 cubic feet of space in the rear. Auto parts, medical companies, like Quest Diagnostics, fast food companies, Uber eats, insta cart all would love this vehicle. Last mile deliveries will eat this up, like messenger services, and anything that needs moving, across town.
I honestly was wondering why Aptera was not at CES. Although those booths and floorspace are expensive.
Aptera people were there, but Aptera is conserving cash that is going into producing PI vehicles.
Air resistance does not form water droplets into a teardrop shape, it forms it into a kind of lump shape that's flat on the bottom, almost like a little parachute.
Note: Many that don't know are talking on social media and those that know are not talking. I agree with those that question the real data from real scientific research. Thanks for sharing. 😊
I think you hit the nail on the head regardless of his comment here. To be honest before opening your mouth about anything to inform others, due diligence should be done. I've been following Aptera since their start. Instead of formulating your own assumptions go to the source and get your answers just like the gentleman in this channel did and no that doesn't mean visiting their website or Wikipedia. It means pick up the phone can speak to someone from the company that can answer your questions or schedule and interview with someone form the company just like so many other youtubers have done.
Autofocus is the car Channel. Not waveform
I’m aware. The comments were made on Waveform, not autofocus
@@TailosiveEV He’s your guy for the new MacBook Pro. He’s not a great Auto reviewer at all.
Thank you Drew!
MKBHD is great. The Waveform podcast he does, not so much.
the aptera is like the lithium version of the ev-1
Nice video and appreciate the healthy discussions and respectful disagreement.
Marquez is surrounded by a bunch of kids who like blurting out information non-factual information but I also don’t think he should stay his opinion like that
Great response!
Teardrop shape is not the shape of rain. That is a common misconception.
I wish Aptera would under-promise on range, the thousand miles is a range versus Sun versus time equation. It's aerodynamics-first design is the best. I think its appearance is a +.
Maybe they are? 👀
@@TailosiveEVah haa!
On the issue of safety. Either Aptera will submit their vehicles for official car crash testing (NHTSA, EuroNCAP, etc.,) or they will not. If, as they and you claim, they would ace any such test, then why would they not have them tested? If they do submit for testing, and they get 5 stars across the board, then kudos to them. If they will not submit their vehicles for official testing, then any claims as to their safety should to be treated with extreme scepticism.
As the number of vehicle reservation climbed Aptera realized that could meet demand producing the carbon fiber bodies by hand. They partnered with CPC in Modena Italy (Italies "Motor City"), a company with 30 years of experience, to have them produce the Aptera bodies using their carbon fiber SMC and fiberglass SMC processes. This involved a considerable investment of money and time to machine the tooling to produce the components. The had to order 10 ton blocks if German steel that CPC needed to machine the massive die that they require to pressure mold the company's. CPC is also producing the aluminum belly pan for the vehicle. Thst development is just finishing up and I believe they have produced components for q6 production intent vehicles that are going to used for crash testing and validation. I think there is an estimated 4 to 6 months for that happen.
@@garywozniak7742 Make that 100 ton blocks of machine steel.
Up to 5 of the Production intent vehicles will be crash tested by a third party to FMVSS Part 200 automotive standards by a third party, and the design includes air bags - none of which is required by the vehicle class.
Many cars on the US market have no public crash test ratings available to the public due to lower production volumes, including from large manufacturers. Aptera is going above and beyond.
@@n.brucenelson5920 Thanks Bruce, exactly what I was going to offer in response.
appreciate the response! The WVFRM crew are a great team an def just glossed over this subject. Healthy skepticism is a good thing. 1000 miles of range on a solar powered EV does sound kind of ridiculous!
I think the people that made a big deal of this need to chill out just a bit!
While the range sounds ridiculous, we can't forget MKBHD is one of the largest youtube channels that advertised the false ranges of Teslas. The EPA has now instructed Tesla fix their range estimates.
Given how important the transition away from non-renewables is, I don't think anyone with the audience of MKBHD should be given a pass for spreading misinformation about vehicles.
How many people wasted their hard-earned money on a model 3 because Marques told them it got twice the real range it gets? At what point do we hold these morons accountable? Aptera is just the one we recognize. How many other times has MKBHD shill for or against products out of sheer ignorance or paid malice?
I think he should try to reach out to Aptera to review Gamma, but tbh I bet his channel fizzles out over the next 3 years so it probably isn't worth it for Aptera. Older people don't care about his surface-level tech reviews and younger people don't care about a fringe millennial trying to sell them a cybertruk. His channel has become more about fancy camera movements someone competent could mimic with an insta-360 instead of providing valuable information to tech buyers. He called the only non-hybrid gas/electric vehicle ever a hybrid. He's not an auto journalist and we need to stop pretending these tech "influencers" know anything about cars.
So, what are some red flags that someone should look out for?
Companies with bad ideas. Execution is hard enough as is, if you can’t even get an idea fleshed out then don’t bother trying. Many startups are just making slight iterations of things that already exist, imo they’re doomed. Here’s a slightly more expensive sedan (Lucid) here’s a slight iteration on an F150 (Lordstown)
Also if the company isn’t keeping you updated, or being transparent about their activities. Usually cause something isn’t working
so... I'm sure they thought of this but I havent seen anyone ask/talk about it... the frame is aluminum/steel. the chassis is carbon fiber. if these are in contact with each other, you get insane corrosion.
I'm hoping they've designed it such that the metal parts and the carbon fiber parts dont actually touch, but it would be good to confirm that.
I’ll ask when I get a chance!
As I understand it, you would need the steel and carbon to be electrically connected and have salt water present for a large amount of time. The Italian supercars don't seem to be having problems with corrosion, so I think Aptera will be fine. Hopefully.
If you look at the Aptera binc, body in carbon, there are dark, or black inner panels, and light or white external panels. The black inner panels are CF-SMC ( carbon fiber SMC). The white outer panels are FG-SMC (Fiberglass SMC).
Since carbon fiber is electrically conductive it acts as a metal when it comes in contact with metals like aluminum or steel. If carbon fiber is in contact with either metal in the presence of an electrolye like water or salt water galvanic corrosion will occur. The metal, like the aluminum belly pan, become the anode and the carbon fiber becomes the cathode and some interesting but highly corrosive chemical reactions occur.
I suspect that is why all of the outer panels and potentially some of the critical inner panel are made of fiberglass. Fiberglass is not electrically conductive and does not result in galvanic corrosion when it comes in contact with aluminum or steel.
@@garywozniak7742Interesting. Thanks
MKBHD is a joke