The Aptera Width Issue

[kevin-lyda]

A week or so ago I noticed that the width of the Aptera is 2.2 meters. That’s a problem on Irish country roads – which is most of my driving.

Will the European model be as wide as the American model? Would there be any consideration to making it a bit thinner?

I currently drive a Tesla Model 3. I waited for it over a Model S specifically due to the width issue and unfortunately the Model 3 was only 3cm thinner. A car that’s 20cm wider is… problematic. Seriously, if any Aptera designers want to see Irish rural roads for a few days I’m happy to let them. Or I can send them some dashcam footage.

[len]

Hey Kevin

I hear you! Spent many business trips mainly County Cork area and down to Kensale and the Ring of Kerry( Lovely)

Yes I even drove myself with the company car through round a bouts

My white hairs developed there!

But Aptera has answered this in their FAQ sections , if you search this 400+ answers and basically … For Europe and some other markets they will have to come up with solutions

If you have ever been to the old streets of Philadelphia they are very tight too!

But not like Ireland with rock walls along the winding roads and cattle or locals bowling in the roads!!!

Cheers!

[peter-jorgensen]

Alright, I did a little graphic project. Draw your own conclusions as you like.

My opinion: It works fine anywhere a model X does.

Here are dimensions for some vehicles for comparison:

[peter-jorgensen]

Click image to enlarge

[peter-jorgensen]

Click image to enlarge

[peter-jorgensen]

Click image to enlarge

[peter-jorgensen]

[peter-jorgensen]

European cars comparison

[peter-jorgensen]

US Parking Lot comparison

[henry-kitt]

Thanks for taking the time out to do this, can be useful for silencing the critics. Actually every time I drive somewhere now I look at wide vehicles and see how easy it is for them to keep their lane. I also imagine what would happen if I’m going around something in the road while having a middle rear tire. Should be easy on both accounts, especially with safety pilot, which should stay in the lane better than a Tesla which likes to sway back and forth. Aptera says because of torque vectoring it won’t sway within lanes.

[Titus]

To have the complete picture you could add European parking lots of 2.5 m (minimum 2.3 m). Plus lane parking has mostly a width by just 2 m. And Teslas park rarely in my area – so the pods stick out. On the other hand the shape and overall height of the Aptera looks not as massiv as those brick shaped other cars plus doors opening to the sky. Aptera is discussing some minor changes for the European version. So I got to keep my feet calm until then – hoping such amendments might come at a later date.

[peter-jorgensen]

EU 2.5M parking stalls – No problem here.

[peter-jorgensen]

EU 2.3M parking stalls – Aptera is right to the lines. Also some cars won’t even be able to open their doors enough to get out. It’s a really tight squeeze.

[peter-jorgensen]

Parallel Parking – EU – Model X doesn’t fit, Aptera doesn’t fit. Model 3 barely fits if you fold the mirrors. If this is your situation then your city doesn’t have room for Aptera or the Model X. You should look into the Nobe, Honda E, etc or a motorcycle. Or an ID-3, which we can’t get over here. At least you might be able to import an Aptera.

[pat-v]

Interesting that you added Nobe, just don’t add it to your investments! Or put a deposit on it for that matter. youtu.be/uVP-luWVufg

[peter-jorgensen]

Parallel parking in the US – 8 foot width, no problem. Aptera sticks out as much as a full size truck, but not really any more. If someone hits your front wheel pants at that point they probably would have hit anything.

[Phil]

Peter, these shots you have posted are very useful and should not be limited to this forum. You should email Aptera and suggest they add them to their webpage, where they have an overview of the vehicles features.

[stanislav-jaracz]

OK, so we have lots of top view images suggesting the width is not a problem. Thank you.

How about parking? The driver next to me will be pulling out and turning. They won’t see the low pods. Only the chassis. What if the pods will have problems at parking lots?

[RajGiandeep]

This weekend I cut a pipe to 88″ to get a better visual of how the Aptera would fit on the road, compared against other vehicles, parking, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfJsHNOy7sA

[Phil]

Just to add some more thought to this post. The picture I have attached, is of the furnace exhaust pipe that pokes out of the side of my house that also has my driveway. My driveway 94 inches wide and this pipe sticks out 6 inches, which brings it to 88 inches at this pipe. The good news is, the top of the Aptera wheel covers at 27 inches high, will just make it under this pipe by one inch, as it’s 28 inches above ground at the end of it. I thought some other owners might have a similar situation at their house.

[linda-john]

Philip, remove low cost PVC pipe and rebuild with exhaust pipe parallel to face of building.

[Lou]

Thanks for the video…definitely reassuring that wheel width unlikely to be a concern under most circumstances! Still might be useful to include self parking as part of the level 2 package.

[hans-marius-torgersen]

Isn’t the easiest solution simply redesigning/removing the wheel pods? I think I’ve read somewhere that removing them reduces the width by about 10 inches. Not sure how big of an effect it would have on drag, though. And if the turn signal is on the wheel pods they might have to be relocated. Seems to be the easiest solution by far to me.

[harry-parker]

10 inches would be 5 inches per side. No way the wheel covers extend 5 in. from the outer edge of the tire. I’d guess less than 2 inches.

Anyway, fenders exist for a safety reason on all cars, as well as to reduce drag. They prevent the throwing of mud, water, snow & stones. It’s illegal in most places to drive without wheel covers on public roads.

[peter-jorgensen]

Hans,

The width of Aptera with the wheel pants removed is 83.8 inches or 2.13 meters for the Alpha versions, from outside of the tire rubber to outside of tire rubber.

This means you get 2 inches (5cm) on either side if you remove the wheel pants.

The front wheel covers are called wheel pants and the rear cover is the wheel skirt.

[richtidd]

Thanks for this.

What about fitting into single car garages?

Will it fit though the entrance?

[harry-parker]

I took a tape measure to my pretty standard garage, built in 1976. It fits with about 4 inches to spare on each side. Tight, but doable.

But most of the time I’ll park it under the Sun. Maybe get a cover for it to protect against winter storms.

[nazhi-hamdan]

I saw a few days ago a top down picture of an aptera overlayed on a model 3. Can anyone post it please? Displaying the overall width is one thing but nobody talks about the actual saloon size.

Thank you!

[len]

I assume you are speaking about an overlay a forum person did based on Aptera original anticipated size.

Attached is an original spec sheet from Aptera. But the Beta will be a little larger ( passenger area) for more passenger room. So until they get to a production intent vehicle… we don’t have the final dimensions

I would he surprised if much different bigger than the upcoming 6-12 beta vehicles

[Riley]

Here you go

[curtis-cibinel]

Note: Scaled based on length.

[Riley]

Do you have one of these with the cybertruck?

[peter-jorgensen]

I found these on google. I don’t know if they are to scale, but I suspect so.

[dslackrgmail-com]

Is there an information on the width with the wheel covers removed? I understand that the current width is 88 inches. I am looking at towing trailers, and they have 83 inches in bed width. I am wondering if the wheels covers are removed, I may be able to fit the bed…barely. Fingers crossed. I wish Aptera was slightly narrower. Not only it will require some driver adjustment, it may be problematic with other cars. I am concerned – maybe baselessly – that other drivers, not used to outboard wheels, may not recognize the front wheels and approach closer than they should. Thanks.

[curtis-cibinel]

Definitely a challenge. I expect a different car will need to be made for europe with a narrower body and no center console. Perhaps also slightly worse airodynamics (pods slightly closer to the body).

Assuming the company actually ships the Daymak Spiritus might be a better car in europe with a more traditional frontend (worse efficiency / no storage). The company is a bit sketchy and has really ambitious goals (ie a flying saucer)