-
Aptera the Beetle of EVs
No one could have predicted the success of the Volkswagen Beetle. Or how it would say popular for so many years. Some of it was just luck . Right time right place. Came out during the time of Woodstock, the peace and love generation. It became a symbol. The Aptera can be a new symbol for a new generation.
It’s seems that Volkswagen has stopped making the Beetle. Aptera could win over fans of the Beetle. With the right marketing plan. Aptera could be the car of the current generation. It could win over hearts and minds .
https://www.hotcars.com/volkswagen-bring-back-beetle/- This discussion was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by
bbelcamino.
- This discussion was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by
- 14 Replies
-
Aptera the Beetle of EVs
updated 2 years ago 12 Members · 14 Replies -
The VW Beetle landed on U.S. shores in 1949, about the time many of the Woodstock folks were busy being born. It acquired it’s Beetle nickname in the late 60’s but that was also when sales began to drop off.
-
Anyone here old enough to remember the classic repair manual “How to Keep Your VW Alive” — That was the 60s version of “right to repair”.
-
Not only do I remember it, I owned it. I gave it away to a VW Bus owner long before the original editions became collectable.
I’m old, I guess.
-
That book was the DIY bible for me! I kept my 411 running using that book. Until it rusted beyond the point of being able to hold the seats in place.
-
-
Yes, I compare Aptera to the model T and the Beetle as the break through vehicles, priced for the people, of their day.
-
I hope the Aptera isn’t like the Bugs I had. I had 1 to drive and 1 for spare parts. The heaters were terrible, the floor was rusted out, like the stock heater shrouds, and I couldn’t keep an input seal in the transmission. It was only 8 years old. I had a gasoline fired furnace in it for heat. I had to pull the engine twice in the year I had it to replace the clutch and trans seals. When it ran, it was fun.
Since my Aptera preorder >16000, I hope the ‘bugs’ are worked out by then.
-
You describe a niche market of sporty young people. Keep in mind that the VW Beetle had been around for 25 years before it took off in the USA. Its success here in the mid-’60s depended on the arrival of baby-boomers in the new and used car markets. If you look at photos of Woodstock you see a small but noticeable number of Beetles.
I don’t want to market the Aptera as the 21st century Beetle. I want a larger market than that. I want the stockbroker who commutes less than 40 miles per day to buy it because it makes economic sense. I want the conservationist to buy it for obvious reasons. I don’t want the outdoors person to buy it for its camper because you won’t be able to camp in any National Park that has bears. Nevertheless I want the sporty person to buy it to go surfing, skiing, biking, hiking, and all the sundry things that you can do with all that cargo space (including camping where bears aren’t an issue). I want homemakers to buy it because of the savings and, again, the storage space.
That’s not to say that there will not be a Beetle-lovers type of market. There will. Aptera has all the characteristics that made the Beetle successful in the mid-’60s: low sale price, cheap (or free) fuel, easy maintenance, and the “cool” factor. (I think Aptera is more cool than the Beetle – and I owned three.)
But once those kids start having kids of their own, they will look elsewhere if we haven’t come up with a four seater. I am confident that Chris Anthony, Steve Fambro, and Mike Johnson are planning on brand loyalty to convert 3-wheel Aptera owners to 4-wheel Aptera owners in the years to come.
- This reply was modified 2 years ago by
Jeffrey Renz.
- This reply was modified 2 years ago by
-
I love the excitement here! I do! I’ll be the stick-in-mud though. Personally, I believe what made the Beetle so successful was ease of production. I mean masses of cars easily thrown out of factories. I would love to see that with Aptera but I don’t think it designed for factory production efficiency in mind but vehicle operation efficiency. Being able to get an electric vehicle under $30k with little to no fueling cost!? That’s what has me on the Aptera wait list.
-
When I went to college at the University of Vermont from 1968 to 1972 I remember noticing how many VW Beetles were in the parking lots. Once I counted, and exactly half of all vehicles in the lot were VW Beetles. That was just when the new bumpers came out, 1968. There were only a few of those at the time. I drove a 1962 Beetle with no gas gauge. You would fill it up and estimate how far it would go before running out of gas. When it did run out, you could reach down under the dash and flip a lever that would lower the gas pick-up hose deeper into the gas tank. You would have a few miles left before running out for good. Best car I had until after graduation when I went into the Air Force and picked up a wrecked Porsche 914 from a junk yard in San Antonio. I dragged it 150 miles tied up to my rear bumper of a Gremlin to Del Rio (pilot school) where I rebuilt the front end with my own design, with wire lath and fiberglass. My favorite car ever until I ordered the Aptera. Don’t let me down.
-
The peoples car …. Landlocked Germaine’s version of the model T
A car for the masses that anyone with a 13mm wrench could practically disassemble the entire car
-
I want the Aptera to be more popular than a tiny niche market, but I’ve owned too many modern cars now, with their modern conveniences, to want a bare bones “people’s car” with a 6 volt electrical system, drum brakes, 56MPH top speed, awful heating, and rattling noises everywhere. I still own a 1959 Karmann Ghia convertible (which I love), but I wouldn’t want to commute in it daily, or risk taking it on a 1,000 mile trip somewhere. I do like the old VW’s simplicity, and easy/low cost repairs. But I’d rather have a Tesla-like driving experience, plus some extras (like solar), and lower purchase/operating costs.