To understand where I'm coming from recall the very end of the movie, "My Cousin Vinny". Joe Pesci and his girlfriend just escaped town after he won his first trial with the testimony of his girlfriend, a general expert on 'cars', that proved the innocence of his 'cousin'. Pesci was supposed to marry his girl when he won his first case but 'he didn't win it by himself' ... and they ride off into the sunset with the thought, 'maybe you win your cases in the future with the help of others; what a novel idea!'
A "novel" idea is exactly what is going on here.
I think we all see the Aptera, with its multigenerational design emphasizing sustainability, being something really different - a truly disruptive technology.
But how will the promise actually come to pass?
We know there are forces in the society that are terrified by the simplicity of the Aptera and, given the innovations in CFsmc by CPC in fabricating monocoques chassis/bodies so elegantly, and all the other elements from local assembly through significant solar generation.
We know the history of Aptera largely because in version 2.0 it was a crowdfunded venture with the extant transparency such ventures require.
There was a quote attributed to Elon Musk that ideally, you'd make a real car as simple to manufacture as a nice toy car, its molded structure being as simple to fabricate as the shell of toy car. The Aptera comes closer to that ideal than even the model 2.
As challenging as engineering the Aptera for hyper efficiency in everything from the way it is built to its operation including its 'self-fueling' capabilities, the challenge of how it will actually be marketed remains a mystery.
Compounding that mystery is how innovations like autonomous vehicles may impact transportation in these United States. Further compounding any assessment of the near future is the impact of fear, uncertainty and doubt, an obvious strategy by entrenched interests to delay and derail the necessity to move toward carbon free electrification and electric generation and storage. Notably, one can wonder how effective these entrenched interests will be in a political landscape influenced by transactional, short term interests.
I'm in the research phase of this book although I have a general outline and a rough, rough, rough draft that portrays some very positive opportunities that have a real payoff when the proverbial cow pie fight begins with one side seeking to generate more cow pies (more beef, more methane, more cow pies) and the other seeking to reduce as much as possible cow consumption thus lowering the aggregate cow pie availability.
(Was that really that torturous?)
One background approach I'm finding interesting is the use of Chatgpt to explore a topic in a conversation. The discussions often do more than inform, they can explore and provide an assessment of the idea as well as potential clues for expanding the vision further.
I'll post backgrounds and maybe some excerpts from these AI conversations with a link to the shared 'public' AI discussion. In some of these conversations I come at it in a 'Socratic fashion' ... asking broad questions to narrow and identify potential players.
In other instances the factual background for the book may come from investigating the impacts of EMPs or climate change and rising ocean levels on populated areas in the coming decades. Exploring the potential impact in detail creates the ambience for the sci-fi elements of the Aptera; a portrait of resilience.
Some of the fun parts for you, the reader and forum participant is that I'm going to need names.
Yep, I come from the culture of local news where the rule is not "If it bleeds it leads" - we would never report on a murder with no ties to the local community even if it happened a mile away in another county. Instead, the mantra of local news is "Names make news."
The point is Aptera is either a BIG STORY or it is not. If you're here, you're probably more in the 'big story' camp and that means there is a lot of story to tell.
Read, think, comment, tell everyone how you think Aptera will impact your life in the good times ... and then, in the right topic as we explore how Aptera makes our future better, how it saves your ass in the tougher times. Think about how it will be to visit friends, family, points of interest ... or how about vicariously adopting a bad boy personality who is on the lam for dastardly acts and now surviving in the mountains in comfort. I could see that personality emerging in the refugee encampments in the foothills of the Appalachians where former residents of Florida have relocated faaar away from the ocean that once attracted them.
So much is going to depend on how society, confounded by FUD at present, grapples with the very serious issues regarding climate and potential social disruptions that are inevitable from these and other developments including AI and its impacts. That's not to mention the rise of the corruption-celebrating right in the politics of too many nations world wide. And it is all about protecting entrenched interests like the oil industry that gains supporters in the utility industry when it points to Aptera and says, "you're killing us."
And if you're into conspiracy theories - and I suspect one of the characters in the book will be - you could start with the choice to put lead, yes LEAD , into gasoline and spray those IQ killing particulates everywhere, going as far as to buy trolly and tram companies in cities, forcing these grid-powered people movers out of business and forcing grid lock with everyone sitting in traffic pumping pollutants on themselves and nearby residents.
Remember the evil guy who was always smoking in the "X-Files" is the one behind this because he knew that by lead poisoning the baby boomers it would lower their IQs enough across the board to make them susceptible to everything from Reagan and Trump to Putin and Kim. Considering all the direct health impacts of pollution, not to mention climate change, that this industry continues to get away with being that kind of public health menace is disturbing. But knowing their complicity goes way back and that is well known is a clear demonstration of their power in play.
Now I'm not eager to demonize anyone but this is a novel and that's one character that, like me and you, has their perspective.
And that is what I'm after, a breadth of perspectives.
That's enough for now. And I do appreciate you taking the time to read through this post.