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Three hundred miles per gallon and a Jetsons-style look are enough to get anyone excited. But ever since the word got out on it last month, Aptera's innovative Typ-1 three-wheeler has been the target of relentless theorizing and conjecture across the Web. Is it real? Does it have what it takes to be a practical vehicle for daily transport? Is it stable enough to drive? Does it even actually drive? Well we wondered some of those things, too, so we scouted out if a drivable prototype really exists.
Aptera Electric 300 mpg 3-Wheeler Car: First Look
Seeded on Sat Dec 22, 2007 3:52 PM EST
Article Source: popularmechanics.com- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (8)
Would you buy a car that looks like this and gets 300mpg?
- 3 votes
#1 - Sat Dec 22, 2007 3:53 PM ESTYes, costs $30,000, but how much does it save, at 300 mpg? I haven't done the calculations, but seems like it might be pretty cheap in the long run... if it is made well and doesn't require too much maintenance.
- 1 vote
If you drive an average of 12,000 miles per year and a gallon of gas cost $3, then at 25 MPG you will spend $1,440 on gas while at 300 MPG you will spend $120 on gas. Savings are $1,320 per year. To make the car FREE, you need to drive it for 22 years. But if you drive it for 10 years (assuming maintenance costs are the same) then it actually costs you about half (without adjusting for the time value of money).
- 1 vote
To answer Marilyn's question: hells yeah.
Now, the models: 1) a all-electric vehicle for $30k which get's essentially infinite mpg, as there is no gas (in other words, old definition of efficiency doesn't apply). 2) a hybrid which gets 300mpg, no pricing. down the road and 3) a possible four-wheel model, with no specified engine type or price in the future.
The first thing I think of when I see the Aptera is: deathtrap. I don't see much structural integrity, and I can't imagine surviving a crash in that thing. Of course, the same can be said for motorcycles...The difference is I think people get an automatic feeling of relative safety when enclosed in a cockpit like a car as opposed to the feeling one gets while on a motorcycle.
- 1 vote
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