Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Manufacturing/Plants, Aptera, USA
Aptera crushing lots of its cars
Aptera chief Steve Fambro, in his company's latest newsletter, tells us they are building "lots of cars". Hooray! And then crushing them. Oh noes! We know this has been done to electric cars by the likes of GM and Toyota before and now Aptera admits it has joined the pulverizing parade. Have they gone to the dark side? Well, no. It's all being done in the name of increasing safety. You see, despite not having to crash test their three-wheeled Typ-1 (because it is defined as a motorcycle by the only state - California - they have immediate plans to sell them in), they are attempting to make the doors and roof of their vehicle much stronger than what is required of a typical car. As Fambro states, "We want the Typ-I to be renowned not only for its remarkable performance and efficiency, but its safety too."
Besides addressing their safety ethos, the newsletter also contains a mini-bio of three of their employees as well as word of their most recent hire, Neil Hanneman. Links to press articles and their latest video are there, as are plans for future hires. If you're looking for a cool job or want to know all the Aptera development details click on the "read" link below.
[Source: Aptera]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
daryl 8:24PM (5/04/2008)
Talking about electric vehicles here is a very innovative electric vehicle conversion I happened to see. It didnt receive a lot of publicity but I think it has big promise since its being commercialised soon.A normal car that goes 30 miles to a charge and only costs $6-8000 to convert....I think that suits my needs:
Here's the link:
http://www.nj.com/morristown/news/index.ssf/2008/05/fdu_student_makes_his_chrysler.html
Reply
meme 11:26PM (5/04/2008)
So THAT was GM's plan! They weren't really trying to destroy the EV1 -- they just wanted to make it more safe! And to think we've treated them so badly all this time when they were just trying to look out for us... ;)
Come on, Aptera test drives -- just another month or so! :)
Reply
Cervus 11:35PM (5/04/2008)
Aptera's very local to me. Same town! I'd love to test drive one.
Reply
Niralisherni 6:09AM (5/05/2008)
It is great that they are doing crash testing to ensure the safety of EVs, this will address a lot of concerns that people have about EV safety in general.
Reply
Bill 7:26AM (5/05/2008)
Until an independent organization like the IIHS crash-tests the Aptera we don't know how well it will do in real world crash tests, not company-conducted testing (no conflict of interest there)
Reply
Rick 1:15PM (5/05/2008)
DONT say independent and IIHS in the same sentence. That 'organization' is a lobbying group for the insurance industry. They care only about covering themselves from losses, nothing else.
Reply
Morgan 5:18PM (5/05/2008)
Mightn't it be safer with 4 wheels? Our regulatory system is just plain dumb. There's no reason a company can't make a car, do enough testing to convince me I am willing to use it, and sell it to me. Unfortunately the regulatory maze we live under will continue to protect the few companies with money and time enough to navigate it.
Man, this stuff gets old. If we've really got such an environmental crisis, is it absolutely imperative every car has an airbag or whatever? I mean, if anyone really believes we're going to roast in our own juices, you'd think auto safety regulation could go out the window in favor of lighter vehicles.
Reply
Daniel 7:02PM (5/05/2008)
I am very interested in the Aptera.
This is good news.
Even though I am near the East Coast, I would be extremely interested in buying one of these vehicles as soon as it is available to me.
Reply
Kevin Nugent 8:29PM (5/05/2008)
I Thought that they just were smashing cars recklessly lol Thank god its for the sake of research :)
Reply
Robert Speirs 9:04PM (5/05/2008)
Odd. I have an electric motorcycle and Florida doesn't even require me to wear a helmet (I do anyway). But if I had an electric car, with far less risk of death, that car would have to pass all kinds of Federal safety tests. Four wheels good, two wheels bad, I guess. When will people realize the government hasn't got a clue - about anything!?
Reply
EVan 9:39PM (5/05/2008)
Crash testing for the sake of crash testing? Are any third parties validating their claims and/or results.
We talk a lot about "green-washing" on here. Without more evidence to the contrary this sounds to me like "safety-washing."
Reply
byteware 3:15PM (5/29/2008)
It seems to me that the reason it hasn't been tested by an independent group yet... is they haven't perfected the safety issue the way they want to.
Let's be honest... if they were ready to have a third party test their vehicles safety... they wouldn't be smashing them.
Reply