Solar-charging Aptera is nearing production readiness 

The Aptera, a car that can harvest energy on the go thanks to its solar panels, is nearing production readiness. It has just completed a ‘solar-supported’ road trip in America recently. 

For those that haven’t seen this solar racer before, this front-drive, two-seater has a claimed range of about 640km from its 44kWh battery and can hit 160km/h. It has 700 watts of integrated solar cells and these panels can generate enough power to add 64km/h of range a day, the company claims. The battery can also be charged via DC and AC. 

Anyhow, the Aptera drove for over 480km on a charge with the company’s co-CEO Steve Fambro behind the wheel of a ‘production-intent vehicle’. According to the firm this was to validate ‘performance and reliability of Aptera’s systems in diverse, real-world conditions—ensuring our vehicle is ready for long-distance travel’. 

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Apparently the drive ‘wasn’t intended to be a formal range test, [but] we ran the numbers anyway and were impressed by the results’

These include 122 Wh/mile efficiency. That’s 7/6kWh/100km which the firm says is ‘twice as efficient as the most efficient production EV on the market today’. Its solar array added 2.4kWh of solar energy during the trip, or 32km of range.

The firm says the test was conducted with a heavier-than-production test vehicle, so final production efficiency could be even better.