Forget hybrid batteries, let's focus on composites

Time to move composites out of concepts

Yesterday, I blogged on one of my favorite out of the box thinking autos, the Aptera plug-in hybrid. Yet, it isn't really the plug-in hybrid technology that inspires, instead, its the lightweight and super strong composites that make up the Aptera's body.

And composites aren't just about auto design and lightweight, super strong bodies.

Applied Sciences Inc. and Pyrograf Products Inc. believe that carbon fiber, another composite material, could offer battery-powered vehicles, such as the Chevy Volt, better range by making lithium ion batteries significantly lighter.

The role of composites in the automobile is just emerging. Finish: Forget hybrid batteries, let's focus on composites

Aptera hybrid rocks the box

Can it forever change the auto industry?

Last week I highlighted the Citroen Cactus electric car as an example of out of the box thinking. Still, my favorite out of the box thinking example continues to be Aptera.

While I like the Aptera Typ-1e and its 120 mile range, it's the Typ-1h that really captures my attention. Yet, it's neither the 130 mpg+ the Aptera Typ-1h plug-in hybrid will achieve that most arouses my attention, nor its qualification for car pool lane status.

Instead it's the as-safe-as-any-car ultralight composite body that results in space age designs, only 1500 pounds of weight, and .15 drag coefficient (The Toyota Prius is .26) that rocks my world.

The Aptera demonstrates that everything about the automobile needs to be reinvented. Today's automobile shapes, designs - even materials - have become archaic. We can, and must, do better.

Aptera: Something to get excited about?

Now I'm really excited

It's taken me a while to warm to the Aptera plug-in hybrid vehicle, but now I'm hooked, especially after watching the great Popular Mechanics video by Ben Stewart.

While I'm not a big fan of two-seaters, I'm making an exception for the Aptera hybrid. Actually, I'm not making an exception. I don't favor two-seat cars, but two-seat motorcycles - that's a whole different matter.

Finish: Aptera plug-in hybrid vehicle: The automobile will never be the same

Aptera Typ-1 e ready for sale later this year

An early Aptera design

Popular Mechanics is reporting that the Aptera Typ-1 e is on schedule for its late 2008 release. The Typ-1 e is expected to fetch about $30,000 and achieve 120 miles per charge. The company is also planning a hybrid version that achieves 300 mpg. Check out PopMechanics for more pictures and a video.

Aptera plug-in hybrid for sale in 2008?

300 miles per gallon?

"Today, Aptera officially unveiled two vehicles that could change the future of automotive design. Aptera’s Typ-1 is a radically different vehicle designed to marry advanced aerodynamics with light-weight composite technology creating an incredibly powerful, yet extremely safe vehicle that is a joy to drive -- even for the most performance-minded individuals. The Aptera Typ-1 will be available in all-electric and hybrid models for less than $30,000, the electric version slated for delivery in 2008 with the hybrid model to follow. The all-electric model has a range of 120 miles. The plug-in series hybrid has achieved more than 300 miles per gallon with a range of more than 600 miles. Both versions are loaded with safety features." (PressRelease)

230 mile diesel hybrid for 20,000?

Time to revolutionize our thinking

The Aptera diesel electric hybrid has been an idea floating around the minds of Aptera for several years now as a way to introduce composite materials into the real world of automotive design. Like many, when I first read about this car, I thought it was a joke, but as I read Treehugger's piece this morning, I changed my mind.

If the Aptera can achieve 230 miles or, even better, the 330 miles hypothesized in the original specs, it's a worthy project.

Sure it only has 3 wheels and it is very tiny, but it's composite construction should still make it very safe.

The real genius here, however, is that it demonstrates that the world can start thinking differently about the automobile. When it comes to the automobile, and the incredible waste, pollution and destruction it causes, isn't it time to stop thinking like a caveman?

It's not just hybrid cars, or even fuel cell hybrid cars. It's design. It's new materials, especially composites which have the ability to achieve unheard of aerodynamics, reductions in weight and increases in safety.

It is our destiny. Let's make it so as quickly as possible.