YAY CALIFORNIA! WHOHHOOO!

and most definetly YAY for Carlos-->

http://www.aptera.com/
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=3d8el1QMceI

The Aptera Typ-1 has met an overwhelming response in the press.
Check out some of the latest here:

* Aptera Makes a Cameo
Aptera featured in Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Commercial
"Change Rolls into Town"

* Wired
1 Gallon of Gas, 100 Miles - $10 Million
The Race to Build the Supergreen Car

* USA Today
3-wheeled Aptera aspires to car-pool lane

* Popular Mechanics (video)
Aptera's Super-MPG Electric Typ-1 e: Exclusive Video Test Drive

* Treehugger
Unveiled: Aptera Typ-1 100% Electric and Series Hybrid Vehicles

Also it looks super futuristic, which I would have thought was a bad marketing idea, but I guess they disagree

aptera...

i've been on a mean streak lately if you haven't noticed.

first, i laid pretty hard into the webcomic "ctrl-alt-del" for getting all serious when it's been being played for laughs for years prior. in fact, i was pretty tough on webcomics in general because, let's face it, most of them suck & there's a reason why they can't graduate to the funny pages.

then, i laid equally hard into ghost hunters because, let's face it, ghosts aren't real. they ain't. wow, you've got an electrical do-dad thingy that detects... something electric. good for you. how do you chase ghosts when you can't even prove that they're real? i dunno. why these people can't do something even marginally productive is beyond me. maybe it's a cry for help. i dunno.

so, after pissing off more people in a week (people, who, by the way, couldn't follow a simple instruction to vent their lame responses in the comment section) then i have since this blog started, i've taken the hint.

you guys want fluff.

lots & lots of happy fcuking fluff.

here comes the fluff.

see, i'm a small-car type of guy. i'm no johnny-come-lately - i've liked small cars from day one. the smaller, the better because, let's face it - most of us just drive ourselves to work & back. do i really need those 3 extra seats in the car? most often, no.

unfortunately, america sucks & up until recently, "small car" usually meant "car the size of rhode island with a v32." yeah, detroit tried to make a small car but that was like bull riders trying to launch the space shuttle... blindfolded. didn't work out too well.

so, i'm actually comforted that we have $4 dollar gas because that finally means that small cars are sexy.

one small car i'm really looking forward to is called the "aptera," which looks like it came out of a cheesy early 1970's sci-fi tv show trying to depict what we'd be driving in the spanking futuristic year of 2000. that's not a bad thing - i love that kind of crass futurism if only because the only "hip" futurism today is the bleak & desolate future which everyone thinks we'll be living in a world occupied only by shades of brown & black. bleh.

i need to be happy, dammit! bringing back the shiny, happy new future always brings a smile to my face! i'm tired of the "the future will be dark, crowded, violent, smelly & horrible" that's oh-so-chic with the kiddies these days. you want to be fcuking depressed your entire life... fine! i want the happy, silly, clean, fun, bright future where everything looks like the inside of a spaceship.

whoever designed the aptera deserved a gold star on their forehead. the thing looks neat, it sounds like it will be priced reasonably so that even i can afford it & it gets the kind of gas mileage we should've gotten from detroit but never did because they were too busy building the "hummer 9000 - it can get up to 4 mpg if it rolls down the side of a cliff!"

so, as soon as they start selling the aptera in someplace that is not california, i will be interested in purchasing one. yes, it will be ultra dorky to drive around in something that looks like it should be landing in the middle of a cornfield but i don't care!

thank you, aptera-building people, for building the aptera.

the whizzball report...

start = 290. end = 289. net gain = +1.

Steve Fambro, a former engineer working at a biotech company, has created the Aptera, a futuristic looking car powered that runs on electricity and has just three wheels. There are no mirrors, but instead rear and side cameras to reduce wind drag and there's a solar panel on the roof to provide a bit of extra power.

The car is being developed in San Diego and will be available only in California for the price of $30k. They currently have one prototype and are working on a Aptera has one working prototype of its electric car. A hybrid gas-electric version is being built.

Hopefully it will be done soon because gas prices keep soaring.  This car could help a lot, though it does look like its going to be kind of a bitch for fat people to fit in.

Aptera

One look at the Aptera, and you’d swear that it could fly. Coming off as a cross between a single engine Cessna and something George Jetson could be seen flying around in, this spectacular new breed of plug-in electronic hybrid vehicle sets our design obsessed, eco-friendly hearts aflutter. While this sweet ride may not be able to take to the friendly skies, it will save you a boatload of valuable gas money, getting over 230 miles per gallon. Not only does this awesome automobile set entirely new standards for environmental safety, but it does the same for passenger safety, employing a safety cage similar to that of a formula one racecar. It also contains an “eyes forward” vision system that gives the driver 180 degrees of rear sight. It may not be exactly ready to hit the road just yet, but for those living in California, you can reserve yours today. So if you inhabit the Golden State, want to be ahead of the environmental curve, and at the same time convince your neighbor that he or she overslept by about a hundred years, perhaps you should invest in an Aptera.

via joshspear

The production model of the Aptera is said to have a top speed of 85 mph.  The vehicle has a very aerodynamic shape and looks to have a low drag coefficient.  There is an all electric model and a plugin hybrid gas-electric model.  The hybrid is said to get 130 mpg in long-range highway travel.

The Aptera is supposed to have a reasonable price.  The numbers on the website are between $26,000 and $30,000.  The vehicle will only be for sale in California when production starts in late 2008.

Aptera is working on crash-testing this vehicle.  It is supposed to be more safe than cars, in that it has improved strength and rollover ratings.  The vehicle is totally enclosed and can carry two people, a child seat between them, and several articles of cargo in the hatch.

Looking at this vehicle, it seems to be of an efficient design.  The range on electric power is limited to a little over 100 miles.  I'm not entirely convinced that three-wheeled designs are optimum for a motor vehicle.  It seems to be a common dodge for alternative vehicles to get around the stricter laws and standards for automobiles.  Technically, a three-wheeled vehicle is considered to be a motorcycle, so the rules affecting it are different from the rules for cars.

It would be nice to see a car manufacturer pay this much attention to aerodynamics and efficiency.  It seems the auto manufacturers have been in league with the oil companies to sell more gasoline.  Perhaps if more emphasis were placed on efficiency and conservation of resources, as well as on alternative power sources for vehicles, energy would not be as expensive as it is these days.

This small, lightweight (just 2.6oz) cap fits on any ‘standard’ water bottle (2” wide mouth) such as Nalgene®, Camelbak®, GSI® and most others, turning your bottle into a solar-powered lantern. With clean, green solar energy powering your lantern there are no more burned out batteries to worry about or replace (adding to our already toxic landfills).

I love it! You can put colored water in them as well....super fresh!

Next we have Wola Nani Papier Mache Bowls, which are made by women living with HIV/AIDS. In Xhosa, Wola Nani means " we embrace and develop each other." These eye-catching bowls are made of papier mache using over-prints from canning factories in Cape Town. You can use them to put your keys in, mail, etc and it supports a great cause. You will also have a story to tell people when they comment to you how beautiful and interesting it is. It is not meant for food storage or eating purposes, so don't eat out of it.

Last but not least is the Aptera a high-efficiency vehicle currently in development by Aptera Motors, Inc. They claim fuel efficiency of 230 mpg at 55 mph, which would make it one of the most fuel-efficient cars in the world.  Because the Type-1 has only three wheels two in front and a single drive wheel in the rear, most states in the United States would classify the vehicle as a motorcycle.  Design elements such as recessed windshield wipers and rear-view cameras instead of mirrors contribute to the low aerodynamic drag. According to the pre-order page, Aptera Motors has set the price at $26,900 for a an electric version with a 120-mile range, and $29,900 for the diesel-electrical series hybrid. If you want to learn more check out their site.

Charge it!

-Cara

Volkswagen has announced a new two-seater vehicle that may be available as early as 2010 called the Aptera.

The Aptera will get around 235MPG from its 1-Liter engine. Sure, it's not going to be fast (max speed will be about 75MPH) but it will get you from place to place efficiently.

The seats won't be arranged like your typical two-seater--one will be in font of the other, like a tandem garage in San Francisco.

The car will be produced in "limited numbers" but you can pre-order it now if you're interested--the price should be less than $30k.

[Via Engadget]

Aptera, which is Greek for "wingless" is a three-wheel two-seater that boasts to be one of the most fuel efficient cars on the road. Although technically not classified as a car (they're calling it a motorcycle) the Aptera is in development and the company is taking pre-orders from California residents. It goes from 0-60 in less than 10 seconds and the price tag is as light as the model, they only want $26,900 for the all-electric and $29, 900 for the plug-in hydrid bad boy. This is truly a spaceship on wheels!

"We plan to win. We welcome the competition, but I expect in ten years were going to be leading the parade."

As if General Motors didn't have enough to worry about with its $3.3 billion first-quarter loss and a two-month strike at a parts maker that has cost it $800 million. It's also got a variety of young electric-vehicle startups that have announced plans to start selling vehicles before GM even gets its electric car the Volt to market.

GM plans to start producing the Volt by 2010, but Think recently said it will sell an electric vehicle in North America by 2009 for under $25,000 or "cheaper than the Prius." Silicon Valley's Tesla has already started selling its $100,000 sports car, the Roadster. And Aptera has already started producing its three-wheeled vehicle.

But Wagoner contends that the investment and scale involved in getting an electric car to mass production -- and meeting both consumer expectations and regulatory requirements -- will prove too challenging for many startups attempting to enter the EV arena. He pointed out that many of these startups are aiming to produce hundreds or, at best, a few thousands of cars -- hardly the volumes Detroit is used to producing. He does make a good point.

And even though Wagoner says GM will come out on top, he still says the company is "wide open" to working with startups. A partnership with a young EV maker that has started to build momentum could actually help GM with some of its bigger competitors in the traditional car industry that are working to go green, too.

-Presidential Candidates Environmental Programs

• Grist Compares Candidates
• Obama Site
• McCain Site

• Solar Chimney
• SolarMission
• EnviroMission

• Aptera Vehicle Company

• Calculate your LILO score

• Chris Townsend

Oftast kommer frågan om hur man värmer och kyler kupén i en elbil och det har man läst med en värmeväxlare i Apterans fall, som alltså både är AC och kupévärmare.

Instrumentbrädan är häftig pch består tre tv-skärmar som är från kameror runt bilen så att man skall få bra uppsikt runt fordonet. i den mittersta tv-rutan så ser man hastighet, laddning och annan viktigt driftsinformation.

Något som är läckert är solcellen på taket. Den är inte till för som flera tror att ladda batterierna, utan för att skapa en luftkonditionering medans bilen står på plats i solen, samt blåsa ut luften bakom bilen vilket förbättrar luftmotståndet och minskar turbulensen ytterligare.

Bilen skall kunna gå fortare än 130 km/h och 0-100 på under tio sekunder. Plygin-hybriden skall klara 300 miles/gallon, vilket är lika med 0,08 l/mil. Och det är när man börjar använda bensinmotorn vilket sker efter kanske 8-10 mil. Den elektriska varianten skall klara ca 19 mil på en laddning.

Bilen kommer inte att vara Tesla-dyr men det är bara ett problem. P.g.a. vikt och dess trehjulighet så klassas den idag som en motorcykel... så det får nog bli dags att ta det där kortet någon gång.

Se följande video från Popular mechanics om en provkörning med kärran.

Now for my spin: Ahem... Neil Hannemann is described as, "niche automotive industry veteran". The word "niche" can be taken one of two ways. The first connotation is very positive considering his track record which you will read about in the article found at the above URL. The other connotation is one of I find to be handicapping and belittling of the project this blog is focused on. By referring to the Aptera as a niche automobile, the writer of the article is unintentionally throwing up a mental roadblock to anyone reading about the Aptera for the first time. It's bad enough that Steve Fambro must deal with hack blog jockeys like me delegitimizing how great his invention is just by my mentioning its existence in a (gulp!) BLOG. Steve now must fight the battle of the car being considered a niche vehicle because someone at a more established news site called it that. Albeit, $30K is not a small price for the average person to pay for a vehicle and its shape may be too different at first for many of the unwashed masses but in the end it is a great start toward the ultimate end which would be a car that anyone could afford to buy and fuel. NICHE implys it is intended only for a select group of outsiders. A niche car to me would be something like the car that can be driven under water or the one wheel Segway like vehicle by Bombardier called the Embrio. Wrapping my head and wallet around those concepts is even harder to deal with than the Aptera. Those vehicles don't address many of the fundamental needs of the AVERAGE auto buyer like the Aptera does. The Embrio may be a fine machine, but you have the one drawback of it being a vehicle that does not enclose the rider; so everone who already doesn't like motorcycles will probably hate this vehicle even more by virtue of the fact that it ONLY HAS ONE WHEEL! And as for the under water car, my job at SEALAB 2021 didn't work out so I won't be needing that car either.

I like the photo on the Aptera website of the tall guy with the bags of groceries because that photo to me says it all about the car. Just an average guy using this car for average purposes without needing a fireproof Spandex bodysuit and crash helmet. If I can ever get an Aptera I may get the bodysuit and crash helmet anyway just to live out my sad science fiction fantasies.

Scaring the neighborhood aside, Aptera needs to continue on with this sort of image building and even go a step further by taking a page out of the Smart Car playbook and take the Aptera on a U.S. tour. Build enough of them to go from city to city and allow the people to drive the car themselves. Aptera should want to do this because this was the smartest thing Smart Car could have ever done for their product. As a result they can't even keep up with the orders comming in and it isn't even as fuel efficient a car it should be for its size.

This year will mark my 45th spin around our Sun. I have for the most part done my best to 'Give a hoot and not pollute', but I want MORE out of giving back. The problem with going GREEN for me is that the up front costs of doing so is burdensome on the wallet. If I do too much too soon my green world will put me further in red before I am back in the black. The Prius I purchased is going to help, but in the long run I need more GREEN EVERYTHING! I want solar panels and high efficiency home heating and cooling. I want 'gray-water' lawn sprinkling and a geodesic dome of glass to cover my house. And I want a solar powered robotic maid to walk my electric dog. To paraphrase Tim Allen, ' I want LESS POWER! ARG! ARG! ARG!' But how can I do all that on a salary that is about $36K/year? That will be the challenge for me and that will be the co-subject of my future blog entries.

Ciao for now.

http://truthwalker.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/one-bazillion-miles-per-gallon/

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/16/HOP1103V8S.DTL

http://www.ecoworld.com/blog/2008/04/14/gms-volt-on-track-for-2010/

Who's not sick and tired of the rising fuel cost? I guess I got everyone's attention huh? And I could the pain especially of those tropa who are commuting daily. Lalo na kayong mga California residents...hehehe. That's not even considering the bumper to bumper traffic during rush hour. And it's those trying moments why I appreciate more living in a small town.

The reality is this, every time (oh what the heck...it's actually everyday now) the fuel cost gets higher, your paycheck is going backward! I don't think that you get a pay raise everyday, but the fuel increase surely does.

This even brings me to more outrage of the oil industry folks. I'm not going to name the countries since everyone knows who are these guys money sucking people. That's right, just about everyone around the globe are suffering except the oil bathing countries.

But the technology especially here in the U.S. is never stopping to come up with cost cutting measures in fuel utilization. I'm all for these guys. It's time to turn the table around.

The good news since I mentioned about California residents, there's technology break through already in place there in Cali! Of course it's still in infancy and thanks to Brod David Cajudo in bringing out this point.

How about a car runs at least 100 miles to one gallon? It's already there..and take a look at this video. Of course it comes with a price tag, but remember the disgusting oil industry folks? This car will surely be an answer...I hope that it will take off soon!

So, here is the Aptera

Its a slippery little car made by a composites company.  It gets 300 mpg.  (Actually it doesn't, more on that latter.)  It looks funny because for a car it has obscenely good aerodynamics.  Drag coefficient is a what is called a dimensionless number, or what I think of as a magic number.  No mater how big or small something is, it's shape has a C/d.  The lower the C/d the less energy it takes to push the shape through the air.  (The truth is bit more complicated, but thats pretty much it.)

The C/d for the Aptera is 0.11.  Now, that is very good for a car.  The Honda Insight (which is no boxy fuel hog) has comparitively icky 0.25.   However, a Boeing 747 has 0.0331.  If a 747 and the Aptera had the same cross sectional area, the Aptera would take 3 times more energy to go the same speed as the 747.

This is where that whole 300 mpg thing ties in.  The Aptera doesn't get 300 mpg.  It gets 120 mpg.  When being used as a plug-in-hybrid it gets 300, but the straight performance is 120.  (For more about plug-in-hybrids click here) And, quite frankly, 120 isn't good enough for a vehicle that must be licensed as a motorcycle.

Here is a car that gets 75 mpg, seats 2, and is street legal.  It was also made by some dude in his garage.

Out of a 1989 Geo Metro.  See, when some guy with a hacksaw can make an insurable, drivable, 4 wheeled car, that meets all the crash and emissions standards for its year of manufacture with no engine modifications...

Lets just say I am a little suspicious that 120 out of pure carbon fiber is really even trying that hard.  May I remind everyone, that elite cyclist have a maximum output of about 2000 watts in a sprint.  The land speed record for a fully faired bike is...81 mpg.  On 2.6 horsepower.  The Aptera is cool.  I hope they sell.  But we can really, really, do better.

Depressed and Hell-bent on getting a different car other than the Saturn VUE I had been driving, I started going to different auto lots to see what was out there. On one of these trips, my wife said, "Let's go test drive a Prius." Being a fairly flexible person, I said, "Sure. Why not?" I didn't think we would find any around because I was sure that the fuel costs had caused them to disappear off the lots. I was right for the most part. We found one still not purchased at a local Toyota dealer. All the others had sold signs on them. We walked in and found a salesman who let us test drive the last un-sold Prius right away. As we stood there without even test driving it, I jokingly asked my wife, "So, you wanna buy it?" and she said, "YES!" I was not prepared for that answer. I had been tricked by her! But how? I was almost sure that this was just a fact finding mission and that she just wanted to see what the car was like. Little did I realize her true agenda. I knew I had been suckered, but I didn't know how to get out of the trap without chewing my own foot off. However, I had never got to test drive a Prius before so I thought it may be fun anyway. Besides, how could I finance a Prius with two other cars in my garage.

Side Note: my wife drives a 2006 diesel VW Beetle. If she could keep from pushing her foot to the floor she would get 45 MPG., but as it is she is only getting about 39 MPG. Still not bad. We met the salesman outside and got in the car to drive it.

I took it out on the Highway and put the car though its paces. This was a superior machine! I loved the way it handled. It was smooth and quite. Not powerful, but it can still go fast enough to get you into trouble. Just ask former V.P. Al Gore and Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak. Both of these guys got pulled over for speeding at around 104 MPH! To be honest, I never looked at a Prius until I found out that Steve Wozniak drove one. Steve is a mad genius with an I.Q. that is somewhere round 200. I figured if the car was good enough for my favorite geek, it had to be good enough for me. Hero worship aside, I did fall in love with the Prius on my first drive. But how could I get this car? I was sure that my credit score was too low for such an expensive car. After filling out the paper work and submitting it to Toyota finance, I got an answer. "Congratulations! You have an excellent score!. That is all I remember now. The whirlwind of papers to be signed sucked the oxygen out my lungs removing all the boundaries between reality and insanity. The more I signed the worse it got. I saw numerous dead presidents flying out of my wallet laughing at me. I saw a shaman in a business suit hand me a talisman that had a blinky red light that lit when I squeezed it. I saw him wish me well as I used the talisman to... To start the Prius! Oh God! it wasn't a dream! Damn you! Damn you witch woman and all your tricks! Where is my money! How did this shiny white car get into my garage!

After the shock wore off I took the car out for a series of test drives that took almost 2 weeks to finish. I must now admit that love it. I finally had to fill up the tank when the fuel alarm went off telling me that it was low. I read in my manual later though that I still had 3 gallons in the 11.9 gallon tank when the alarm went off so I could have gone on for a long time. But the best news was that I am getting 52.3 MPG! Compaired to the VUE with it's 17 MPG it is even better for me.

As soon as I can find someone to take over the lease on the VUE I will be much better. I am paying $265.45 a month on the VUE lease and I can't eat that forever while paying for the $313.00 on the Prius. This part of my plan stinks as you may have noticed, but it was necessary. The Prius I was test driving had 3 other families waiting for it and the other Prius's were gone without any word as to when a new shippment may be in. More frightening yet, the  dealer had over 70 Prius's on his lot at one point two months earlier and this was indeed the last one as I could see for myself going through the lot. Again I say, desperate times. But what about my hope for the Aptera? I still have it. I want Aptera out there breathing down the necks of all the automakers. I want to see them stew the way we do every time we have to go to the gas station. With a car like the Aptera waiting to eat their collective lunch, it should make them work a little harder at making a hyper-mileage car on a large scale. There is no reason why in 2008 we don't already have cars that get 300 MPG. If they had started working on this problem in the 1970's during the first oil crisis, we would have been driving such a car by now.

Soft Serve scans newspapers, magazines and Web sites for "soft news" — coverage of products, trends and matters of style. Just the fluff, ma'am.

Gourmet Ketchup -- Heinz is launching a ketchup for those with more sophisticated palates. [via Luxist]

• Heinz Special Blend Tomato Sauce, $3.50.

Fly Car -- For those looking to live like the Jetson's, the three-wheeler Aptera is the automobile of choice. [via San Francisco Chronicle]

• The Aptera, $30,000.

Fruit Cleaner of the Future -- We have no idea how it works, but this megasonic fruit cleaner will apparently "remove dirt and agrochemicals." [via Engadget]

• Coway's SWV-08AM megasonic cleaning device.

Not For Your Eyes Only -- James Bond aficionados will appreciate A View to Kill at the Imperial War Museum. [via men.style.com]

• For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond, now through March 1, 2009, at the Imperial War Museum, London.

Recycle Your Kitchen -- Buy the gently used kitchen appliances of the megawealthy. [via San Francisco Chronicle]

• Green Demolitions in Greenwich, Conn.

It looks like a cross between a fish and a spaceship. A spacefish? Or an electric car that gets 300 mpg. The Aptera goes from 0-60 in 10 seconds, recharges in 3 hours, comes in all-electric or electric plug-in hybrid and even has cup holders. The flashy name? Greek for "wingless flight".