It's not?
At least as shown in the video, a human drives the tractor the whole time via remote control.
There's no autonomy in that...
Cheers!
huh, I thought I saw a few moments where it was autonomous. I'm really not concerned if I missed someone in the corner with a control tablet. Before he retired my dad planted using John Deere autonomous tech. He still sat in the cab in case he needed to correct something, but from what I was told 99% of the driving was done by computer. If they can get those tractors to drive autonomously, they can get these to drive autonomously.
Silly or not if I could hear this in cabin while driving I would never come home.That's pretty slick looking. The fake exhaust/engine sounds it pretty silly though.
What you mean to say is that I paid up front for my electricity. There is no free lunch.I plan to, but the important distinction is that it would be in addition to my existing vehicles. I recently added solar to the house, which has been fantastic. Having that power bill of $0.00 for June was kind of intoxicating. I live in a pretty urban/dense location, with chargers all over the place so it would be perfect for those short trips. Most of the driving I end up doing is within 20 miles of home. I have no intention of giving up my manual transmission, diesel or road-trip vehicles though - they'll just see less use.
What you mean to say is that I paid up front for my electricity. There is no free lunch.
Right - for most people, they replace the electric bill with the monthly loan payment on the solar panel system. After it's paid down in 10 years, that's where the savings start happening. Though, if you need to change your roof, it's 5k-10k to remove and re-install the panels. My neighbor had the tesla panels installed, then need to replace his roof 1 yr later. Tesla charged $7k to pull and replace the system.
And, it would be a damned shame if those panels became faulty after 10 yrs. The Florida sun is brutal year round down here.
Having said all that negative stuff above, I might pull the trigger on roof panels in the next few years. I just put a new roof on my house, so I'm good in that dept. for at least 25 years I think.
I got a quote for a full solar system. If I doubled my electric bill and divided the cost, I would have broken even in 20.5 years if I had no problems with it. I had a friend install one here and he was praising it for the first six months. Then it started to not produce as much energy. He also had his tied to the grid so he could sell his excess to the city. When we all lost power for a week, he did as well as it required power from the grid to work.Right - for most people, they replace the electric bill with the monthly loan payment on the solar panel system. After it's paid down in 10 years, that's where the savings start happening. Though, if you need to change your roof, it's 5k-10k to remove and re-install the panels. My neighbor had the tesla panels installed, then need to replace his roof 1 yr later. Tesla charged $7k to pull and replace the system.
And, it would be a damned shame if those panels became faulty after 10 yrs. The Florida sun is brutal year round down here.
Having said all that negative stuff above, I might pull the trigger on roof panels in the next few years. I just put a new roof on my house, so I'm good in that dept. for at least 25 years I think.
If electric cars truly worked and were economical, gas powered cars would disappear very soon. You need something that is quick to recharge (10 min or so) and have a good range for those who do not live in a city.
Of course they still need lubricants and tires and plastic. If we get rid of the oil companies, lubricant oil might reach $1000 a quart. Tires might be $6000 a set. Plastic (which a lot of card parts are made from) $$$?.
And farm equipment? Some combines run 24/7 during the harvest only stopping to change operators. They even fill the trucks with grain while moving and still harvesting.
Love this
Right now 40% of the electric grid comes from coal, so 38% percent ( I am giving credit for those who can charge their EV with Home Wind Generator and those who can charge their car with solar on a week end) are coal powered.^^ haha @day_trippr
I don't know if the world will run out of oil (and other fossil fuels e.g., natural gas and coal). I see estimates everywhere of 50 yrs. I see other descriptions of unlimited supply of oil, especially with conversion of things like shale oil.
But if it does run out, or becomes overly expensive due to scarcity, we will go full nuclear. There is NO WAY to get enough energy from the sun or wind to power all the vehicles and homes and factories.
This article gets right to the point: The Future of Electrical Vehicles Could Be Nuke Power
Right now 40% of the electric grid comes from coal, so 38% percent ( I am giving credit for those who can charge their EV with Home Wind Generator and those who can charge their car with solar on a week end) are coal powered.
Oh, I forgot those who pay extra just for Green stuff like solar and wind. They get 100% of their power from the green stuff. Of course, it is separated on the grid and packets of green are sent directly to those who pay extra (I have never figured out why it cost more if it is free?)
Nuclear Plants are a much more reliable source of electricity. One plant produces the equivalent power of 3,125,000,000,000 solar panels or 431 wind turbines (Federal Government numbers). All three produce hazardous waste, but volume size, nuclear plants produce much less waste.
I wish we had spent our money and time perfecting Nuclear to be safer. Been a lot better for birds.
No, just the fact that "green" is not so green. I do not even own my own car now as I no longer drive.
The idea that a "green" car is better for the environment is total BS. E = MC Squared has not changed.
You never have 100% efficacy so any change of energy to a different form of energy costs some of that energy. Burning NG to produce electricity would be better spent directly in an engine.
Unless there is a great leap forward in technology, we (and all countries) need fossil fuels.
I am afraid what will happen a few years from now with all the hazardous waste from "green" energy. Along US 287 near Amarillo, Texas there are already piles of spent Windmill blades that have been there over a year.
And then we have lithium. Where will all those batteries go?
Nuclear Plants are a much more reliable source of electricity. One plant produces the equivalent power of 3,125,000,000,000 solar panels or 431 wind turbines (Federal Government numbers). All three produce hazardous waste, but volume size, nuclear plants produce much less waste.
I wish we had spent our money and time perfecting Nuclear to be safer. Been a lot better for birds.
[edit] I don't want to take this thread off topic. My comments about nuclear are just that for electric vehicles to truly be green, they need to be charged with a green energy source. What was posted by Kent, above, solves that problem, but I don't find that "vehicle" to be a realistic form of conveyance for most families. Sure, it's good for a quick trip to the grocery store or short work commute. But you're not loading up your wife, 2.4 children, christmas presents, and heading across state to visit Grandma in it.
I was not suggesting that the Aptera car was for everyone all the time. I definitely think it has a place on the road, but being in a family like you described (round down to the nearest whole number for kids) with all of our extended family out of state, grandparents that get carried away at Christmas, and a spouse who I dearly love that constantly overpacks when we travel to see family, I know that I might actually be looking for a small electric school bus with a range of 350 miles per full charge.
But not everyone has 2.4 dependant children that they're responsible for transporting all of the time from the time they're born until the day they the parents stop driving. Not everyone lives over 50 miles from the people they like to see on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. I bet that not all families overdo Christmas presents like some in my family do.
We have two vehicles, and what we require them to do for us is different enough that one is a gas powered jeep with a V6, and the other is a Chevy Volt (PHEV), and we rarely argue over who gets a certain vehicle.
Well, I guess the obvious question is why do you prefer the Aptera over any other gas vehicle? I imagine almost every vehicle on the road right now is more comfortable, has more power, has greater range, has more interior space (!), is FAR safer, is better in every way.
If I gave the impression that I would prefer Aptera to any other gas vehicle for any given scenario, then my apologies. I thought I compared it to a Tesla pulling a generator.
In certain situations I would definitely take it over most gas vehicles. I don't think it takes much effort to imagine a scenario where a vehicle with low air resistance, a long battery range, built in solar panels, and maybe even limited seating all makes sense.
I'm sure my wife would not feel safe in it though.
People have strange feelings about how safe vehicles are. My wife insists on 4wd/awd for winter driving. I do feel better in such a vehicle when the forecast calls for snow or the roads appear icy. But our roads are pretty well maintained and the winters seem to keep getting milder, so I just keep an eye on the forecast and do my best to plan my errands around that, which anyone who has lived in a snowy part of the world learns to do anyway. I feel just as safe in the Volt as I ever did in the gently used pontiacs I used to get from family members.
Your odds of dying in a car crash are 1 in 100. Yea, that sounds higher than you'd expect, but feel free to fact check me. Anyway, that means that violent car crashes are not only common, but commonly end in death. If you know all of that, you might feel nervous zooming out into the agro traffic scene in that little glass bubble you posted above. If everyone was driving them, or you live in Mayberry RFD, different story. I feel the same about motorcycles, which I love.
No, but collision was on my mind and I won't hesitate to speculate . I was reading on my back patio last night and heard a bunch of emergency vehicles whizzing by. Nearby, a small car was tboned by a full sized truck (Tundra). Instantly killed person in smaller car. Neither speed nor alcohol at play, just distracted driving I'd say. This AM I saw pictures of both cars on local news site. If that Aptera has been involved, it would have been reduced to a pile of lego blocks and body parts I'm afraid.I haven't gone out of my way to check Aptera's crash test results to know if they're significantly different from traditional vehicles, so me commenting on it's safety is pure speculation. Did you find that information?
People have strange feelings about how safe vehicles are. My wife insists on 4wd/awd for winter driving. I do feel better in such a vehicle when the forecast calls for snow or the roads appear icy. But our roads are pretty well maintained and the winters seem to keep getting milder, so I just keep an eye on the forecast and do my best to plan my errands around that, which anyone who has lived in a snowy part of the world learns to do anyway. I feel just as safe in the Volt as I ever did in the gently used pontiacs I used to get from family members.