[GJETSON]

No side air bags. Stupid yoke of a wheel. Priced similar to a Bolt and by the time it is out, the equinox. Hard pass.

They are going bankrupt. The car you are seeing is the Lightyear 0, not the proposed production car. The SUV market is not what they are shooting for. There is a glut of vehicles in that market already.

 

[Rmay635703]

Arcimoto joined by Lightyear.

Lightyear 0 solar EV nixed, as company pivots to Lightyear 2

Valmet currently produces the niche Lightyear 0 in Finland, but the company has halted production and Lightyear now says its focus is on the Lightyear 2.

www.greencarreports.com

Although Aptera hasn’t joined them yet, they are repeating the Elio playbook with more testing and delays layered onto testing and delays with even more funding rounds. I’m leaning towards the either it won’t get built or you will get a handful of units and bankruptcy

UPDATE: The future of solar EVs is called into question

The future of solar EVs is hanging in the balance as numerous startup automakers face new challenges ahead of mass introduction.

www.teslarati.com

I hope they prove me wrong but considering my experience with money going into startups I have to set this one out until they are making deliveries.

 

[gzebrick]

They are going bankrupt. The car you are seeing is the Lightyear 0, not the proposed production car. The SUV market is not what they are shooting for. There is a glut of vehicles in that market already.

I was looking at the one they showed as the launch edition webcast a few days ago. Looks like that's what they'll be building first assuming they get the funding they're begging for.

I love the idea of a low cost / super efficient EV - but if it's not tops in safety no way me or any of my loved ones would get one. In addition, the launch edition I saw didn't even have DC fast charging as an option. It's not an issue for me, as there's not enough public chargers in the south where I live to even consider an EV as a long-distance vehicle. Any EV we have (We have a 23 'EUV) is only for local - around town trips topping off every night at home. Since we're keeping the use case local, SUPER efficiency and/or a little bit of solar charging is irrelevant. Decent efficiency (4 mile/kwh) and decent range (250 miles) is more than enough.

 

[GJETSON]

I love the idea of a low cost / super efficient EV - but if it's not tops in safety no way me or any of my loved ones would get one.

This is THE Catch-22! As long as mass wins, all vehicles will just get bigger and less efficient. There are smarter ways to make vehicles safe, but that will never happen..

 

[BillG49]

In addition, the launch edition I saw didn't even have DC fast charging as an option.

DC Fast Charging now standard on all models.

 

[gzebrick]

DC Fast Charging now standard on all models.

That was fast. I'm sure that was the #1 complaint when they did their live webcast a few days ago.

Still not the main issue for me, but cool that they listened to their potential customers!

 

[Rmay635703]

This is THE Catch-22! As long as mass wins, all vehicles will just get bigger and less efficient. There are smarter ways to make vehicles safe, but that will never happen..

The trouble is that once you have decent safety systems mass doesn’t actually make things safer, the opposite in fact.

Why weight makes things safer is only in a situation where one object is heavier than the other hitting head on. In glancing collisions many times the lighter vehicle is more survivable.

If 2 million pound gorillas smash there is more damage and likelyhood of injury than if 2 thousand pound gorillas hit.

By the logic most people use a semi is the only safe vehicle despite having no operator safety systems at all and sharp edges inside

The safest of all would be this because you could just run over houses, trees, semis

Needless to say we should have more of a Eurocentric focus on safety making cars lighter and safer to others and pedestrians, our vehicles fail Euro crash test’s because they are extremely deadly to everyone else but the occupants which is the wrong way.

 

[desiv]

I'm really pulling for Aptera....
Yeah, their car is niche... Even more so than other EVs, it is more climate and other things dependent.
And especially in the US, I can see this being a tough sell...
That said, if someone is in the proper market, this looks to be a great option...
I hope they can find their market...

 

[Packard V8]

This is THE Catch-22! As long as mass wins, all vehicles will just get bigger and less efficient. There are smarter ways to make vehicles safe, but that will never happen..

The trouble is that once you have decent safety systems mass doesn’t actually make things safer, the opposite in fact. Why weight makes things safer is only in a situation where one object is heavier than the other hitting head on. In glancing collisions many times the lighter vehicle is more survivable.

Yes, the common misconception is bigger is better. A friend who is facility manager at an elite private school directs pick-up-and-drop-off traffic sometimes. He chats with the parents and grandparents who are nearly all driving Suburban/Denali/Escalade/Range Rover/Bentayga/Cayenne/QuadCabTrucks. During the casual discussion about, "How do you like your new Xxxxx?" almost always it comes up, "We bought it because when there's an accident, we want our child to be belted into the biggest one."

He says it never seems to occur to anyone a smaller, more agile vehicle might be able to stop or turn and avoid the accident.

jack vines

 

[Peter131]

Does it fly?

 

[GJETSON]

This is based on the old Corbin Sparrow.

Corbin Sparrow Electric Vehicle

The original single passenger electric commuter car. Efficient and "Green" has never been more fun.

sparrowcar.com

Checkout Luke Workman's hotrod Sparrow video.

Luke Workman interview Part 1: Petrolheads are missing the tarmac-tearing potential of electric vehicles

Grab life by the danglies and extract maximum joy from every minute: it's an awesome philosophy that we'd all like to live by, but there are some people that just seem born to do it. Luke Workman is one of 'em. Born into a family of hot rod street racers, Workman hustled his way through college…

newatlas.com

 

[TimBolt]

Aptera?

LOL

Aptera has been promising to deliver a working EV since 2006.

You’d have better luck sitting in a field waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

 

[ComputerDoc]

Then you agree with me, in the end. It's a toy, like a Miata for exemple. You drive it in weekends during sunny days.

My son has a pre-2000 Miata. With over 200,000 miles on it without a single signficant repair. It's his primary, first choice, transportation car (uses a 1968 pickup truck if he needs to move something)... not a toy for him.

 

[Voldar]

... not a toy for him.

Sure, I don’t deny. But here, in 6 months of real winter, the Miata is a toy. Meaning, is a good weather car. Tomorrow they announced snow …