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Battery size/range selection (2)
_______________ Older posts in this thread can be found at: https://aptera.us/community/discussion/battery-pack-selection/ _______________________
Originally ordered 600-miles. Mostly to be able to get anywhere I could comfortably without stopping like in a gas car, which for me is around 300 miles at 90mph. Speed limit on highway in Poland is around 87mph (140kph), so at 90mph I don’t worry about getting a ticket. Including AC usage etc. using Teslas at those speeds gives around 50% of EPA range, at best it’s still well under 200 miles. This is a big downgrade from gas cars and I assume it’s going to be the same range loss at speed in case of Aptera. So main reason is, I just didn’t want to be bothered by range at all, since fastest charging stations in Poland are located off highways and I don’t want to do unnecessary detours. The price was proportional to range increase over lower versions too.
However, when realized that the 400-mile version is going to be shipped first I thought I’d rather have it earlier looking at initial production numbers and it still should be noticeably better than more expensive Tesla, so I changed my order to the 400-mile version. Topping up a 40kWh battery on slower 50kW chargers that are on our highways is also going to be a much better experience than topping up 80kWh battery in a Tesla on the same charger, so still I expect much better experience.
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9 Replies
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Battery size/range selection (2)
updated 1 month, 2 weeks ago
9 Members
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9
Replies
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Mateusz Mysiak, there is a strong chance by the time the APTERA is available for Europe that you may not receive it any earlier than the 600 mile version. Either way, you will have plenty of opportunity to make your decision by the time APTERA contacts you. When they do they will also give you an opportunity to make your decision.
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I am jumping around, but I think 250 miles is ideal. Either I replace my current car with a hybrid car, or I just keep it and buy the 250-mile version. Why try to force a vehicle like this to do work its technology and infrastructure isn’t suited for? ICE vehicles can be used whenever an EV is either unsuitable or unavailable. At least then if I have to waste a week trying to fix it, I would still be able to commute by car.
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Assuming the 400 mile estimate is accurate, if I’m driving at night I can go 400 miles, but during the day in full sun I’ll be able to drive 440 miles?
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My understanding is solar charging will take place even while driving so, yes, under a very specific set of variables. Of course mileage for both scenarios can be significantly more or less depending on temperature, speed, driving style, how cloudy the sky is, etc..
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If you drive slowly enough from sunup to sundown and avoid shadowy portions on your drive, that could theoretically work.
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400 miles is the 0-100% range, it’s not the realistic range. Charging an NMC battery to 100% degrades the battery as does discharging it to 0%. Generally you want to charge to 90% for a roadtrip and then top off at Superchargers if you need more range. You also don’t want to run the battery down to 0%, that’s going to leave you at the side of the road and unlike with gasoline AAA probably can’t bring you a can of gas (I say probably because in a couple of places in the country they do carry chargers). So right off the bat you should think of the 400 mile battery as a 320 mile battery to account for 10% margins on the top and bottom ends. The next thing to take into account is degradation, you’ll see quick degradation in the first year and then much slower after that. My 2019 Tesla with 27K miles on it has a max range of 280 miles, about 10% less than when it was new which makes my 90% range 250 miles. The next thing to take into account is the weather, if it’s raining the efficiency will drop. If it’s cold and you need the heater the range will drop by 40%. If you want to drive at 75 not 55 that will decrease your range significantly. Finally the 40 miles of solar a day, they say up to 40 miles a day, by that they mean 40 miles a day in San Diego in July. If you don’t live some place as sunny as San Diego it’s not 40 miles a day, if it’s winter when the days are shorter and the sun is low in the sky it’s not 40 miles anywhere.
The good news is that they are using the NACS connector and assuming they get an agreement with Tesla the Aptera will have access to the Supercharger network. Even with my 250 miles of range I’ve had zero problems going anywhere, there are lot’s of Supercharger sites and they are completely reliable. I do make it a point to plan all of my trips even though in a Tesla the car can do that for you. I schedule charge/bathroom stops along the way every couple of hours, the usual stop is about 15 minutes which is enough to add at least 100 miles of range and to go to the bathroom. Tesla’s can plan the stops for you, the Aptera won’t be able to do that until they add navigation (they haven’t mentioned nav and for some strange reason nobody has thought to ask them). In the Aptera you’ll have to use A Better Route Planner to plan your stops which is fine, I use it all the time.
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Best discussion of real range and charging on the forum to date. Hope all forum members read and understand this post, especially those without EV driving experience to understand real world EV mileage. Assume the comes from your experience with your Tesla Model 3.
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@Scott Ullerich In short, no. If parked in full, bright sun for 12 hours, Aptera’s full solar package has the ability to store up to 4kW of electricity. The panels aren’t capable of producing enough current to actually propel the vehicle directly and, in order to travel 400 miles, you’d have to be driving on a perfectly flat, perfectly dry, perfectly smooth surface with no wind at a speed of probably less than 60 mph, starting with the battery at 100% state-of-charge. As others have said, 400 miles of range is theoretically possible but highly improbable in the real world.
So, if you could drive for 12 hours in perfect solar conditions you could, potentially, add up to 40 “perfect world” miles of range to the vehicle. It is, however, unlikely.
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I remember reading somebody theorizing that it may be possible to propel the Aptera from just the power generated by the solar panels. It would be at a crawl and probably couldn’t handle an incline or speedbump, but would be fun to try.
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