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Raj is on top of it now. This is the signing Via Chris McCammon: LG Energy Solution supplies the cells, CTNS builds the modules, Aptera owns the design

The Ninjeneer also covered this event:



The sound on the Ninjaneer video is a bit better.

I've watched interviews where it is stated that the usable capacity is less than the full capacity. Why is that?
I'd like to see an emergency mode to get you to a changer once in a blue moon. Possibly just a turtle mode with lots if nagging not to do this as a regular thing.
I've never run my Ora (Aussie) below %33 SOC so I'm not likely to abuse such a feature but it would give me more confidence.

BTW, I did run out of charge and petrol in my outlander PHEV once. I was two or three Klm for my destination at night when I notice the power drop.
I completed the journey and was going 20 KPH downhill when I turned into the driveway.
I recharged to drive to get fuel but it did start the engine so some fuel must have been left.
The PHEV battery was degraded already to %65 (which is why I got rid of it) so only 6kWh or so capacity.
A 42 kWh Aptera should be able to go a long way in similar circumstances.

Range anxiety was a real thing when I drove ICE and PHEV. Now with BEV I usually have twice the range needed and at least 140 Klm in reserve.
I've only needed a public charger once (it was free DC).
At home I'm off-grid so my journeys are already powered bu the sun.

I've run into power reduced messages on my Spark EV a dozen or more times but have never been left stranded on the side of the road out of 'juice'.

The thing is with regen, it is hard to run an EV completely out of juice as demonstrated by the out-of-spec guys on their 70 mph to stop ... but they modified their test to establish when a continuous 70 is no longer possible.

The thing about the Aptera is if you are on that grind-it-out mission that you would run it to total exhaustion, you say, when it refuses to mount the next pebble in the road, you crank back the seat, take a nap and let the sun wake you with enough power captured to get you back on your way.

For sure, in a direct comparison between say a land rover and an Aptera in the outback, the Land Rover runs out of gasoline, you abandon it in your quest for survival. If the Aptera runs out of stored electricity, you probably don't abandon it as it will fuel it self soon enough for you to be on your way. With wise use of regen plus the Solar, my guess is you no longer doubt your survival in this situation.

I did mention my turtle mode happened at night. I have never run out of fuel in the morning.
In the worst case you can wait for next day and hope it is sunny.

It would be nice to know what to expect in turtle mode. I saw a video of range tests (UK) where one car went (i think) 50K after empty but it was at walking speed at the end. It was on a flat test track - I think the slightest rise would have stopped it.

On the outback survival side - being able to get water from the air-con could be a life saver.

My experience with EVs is that I can pretty much drive them to attain the distance I need to go. For instance the difference between driving 75mph and 60 mph in my Bolt is the difference between 3,9/4.2 miles kwh and 2.9 and 3.1 miles per kwh for the higher speed.

Bottom line, you trade speed for distance.

I think of the eV as a musical instrument capable of playing all sorts of notes at all levels of volume and, kind of like an actor, it is the driver's challenge to play the tune.

Yes, you need to be involved... planning, strategy, plus plugshare... hunter gatherer stuff. I really enjoy finding charging stations and planning various trips. Started out in 2017 with a 2016 i3 BEV w/small battery and 60-80 miles of range, then an i3 with a range extender, now a 2020 i3 BEV with about 180 miles of range... love it. These days, most of my miles for 3/4s of the year or so are supplied by my off grid solar arrays, inverters, batteries... solar farming...love the whole process.

Interesting that Steve F at about 6:38 in a podcast says they will use the 4680 cell not the 21120 as discussed for some time.

I saw that and it means that the 1000-mile batteries won't work with the current battery-pack tooling.

I think uttering the 4680-format is actually code for the 1000 mile batter-pack's engineering is at the clean-sheet stage.

That said, this 'model' is obviously a premium model if not a specialized model for some particular fleet operations.

As the 'halo' model for Aptera, and assuming a successful launch, the Aptera may sponsor a $1,000,000 prize for the battery company to provide the most efficient commercially viable 110 kw battery with the highest 'density. This would incentivize battery companies world-wide to compete - especially startups with the new battery chemistries/technology required to gain the upmost density 'advantage.'

In essence, Aptera leverages its publicity assets to promote a winner in the battery arena and reaps their engineering and further expands the supply chain.

The Aptera battery pack at the InterBattery expo in Korea last week: