Solar-Powered Electric Car Goes On A Road Trip

For years people have dreamed about solar-powered electric cars becoming practical for your average American consumer. That’s why when we saw Aptera Motors took its pre-production three-wheeler on old Route 66, traveling over 300 miles in a day without stopping to plug in, we were admittedly curious.

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Aptera, a startup based out of Carlsbad, California, says it’s taken over 48,000 reservations for its upcoming production vehicle. That’s apparently over $1.7 billion in possible revenue for the company, which sounds like a lot until you know what your average volume automaker rakes in per year.

Still, the Aptera is a boundary-pushing ride, even though we’re not entirely sure how practical it is for most people. After all, it’s a three-wheeler and we know in some states that means it has to be registered as a motorcycle, which means drivers need a motorcycle license or endorsement.

Bringing to life, at least in pre-production form, an all-electric vehicle that has solar panels incorporated into its skin, providing power by drinking in sunlight is admittedly intriguing.

The road trip started in Flagstaff, Arizona and involved frequent stops. For example, the first one was at Bearizona Wildlife Park, a whole whopping 31 miles from Flagstaff. Cynical people might say that’s indicative of how much charge the little thing can get from the sun.

While some might find the shape of the Aptera to be off-putting, it’s designed for maximum aerodynamics, allow it to go farther on a charge.  That’s likely why the interior is pretty bare bones, with two Corbeau seats and five-point harnesses, steering wheel, pedals, touchscreen and not a whole lot more to it.

The design alone we think will keep this thing from ever going mainstream.

Aptera seems to understand the vehicle design can seem bizarre. The company actually jokes about it looking like an alien spaceship, among other things, on its social media accounts. We like automakers that don’t take themselves too seriously, because we know firsthand some are wound up so tight, you can’t say a single critical thing about what they do or design.

Is the Aptera the future of mobility? We don’t know, but we do know it’s an intriguing vehicle we’ll be watching to see how it does once the solar-powered three-wheeler comes to market.

Images via Aptera/X