Add-ons, accessories, customization

[ray-holan]

Halloween mask covers for the yoke?

[paul-van-steenberghe]

I’d like a steering wheel to replace the yoke or an upper part of the wheel to modify the yoke to be a wheel.

[curtis-cibinel]

Looking forward to Peter J making his bubble doors. I’ll happily lose the ability to roll down the tiny window in exchange for simplicity and a great view out.

[glenn-zajic]

How about a weathertech quality rear deck mat with built in solar. Many might not want the rear window blocked continuously if they could get just a little less solar from a mat.

[steven-g-bueche]

Good idea in theory. How do you prevent the load from cracking your solar cells?

How about a sheet of cells that would suction themselves to the underside of the glass?

[alain-chuzel]

With the right solar cell “encapsulation” (material and technique), it is certainly possible to keep cells from cracking.

I do like your idea on the “sheet of cells that would suction themselves to the underside of the glass”! Hook and loop would, I would imagine, also work.

[abinitio1980]

Looks like the centre console is ripe for “pop-fastener” interchangeable accessories 👍🏻

[michael-lewitzke]

Will Aptera be licensing 3rd parties for customizing the Aptera? If so, Is there a list of companies who are planning 3rd party add-ones? Does anyone have ideas of things they would like to see offered to customize their vehicle? Personally, I think some type of wood graining kit for accents on the dash or interior doors would look nice. I’d also like to see a removable (or hide away) panel that could go between the seats and cargo area to help retain heat and cooling in the passenger area and save on the battery.

[noah-blumenthal]

Just watched the webinar and, as a shareholder, gladly switched to the Launch Edition.

I’m reopening this thread as a general conversation / wishlist place for after market add-ons, specifically in relation to the Launch Edition.

Starting the ball rolling: heated seats.

[Andrew]

Steering wheel, move rear view screens to rear-view-esque areas, split window delete or modify options. Adding solar capacity?

I will be doing some or all of these changes myself whether or not they are offered in the aftermarket.

I am exploring a full interface conversion to make the dash and controls look and feel somewhat like 1970’s era Riva speedboats, but of course tuned to suit the appearance of the airbag and so forth. Pending reverse-engineering the Aptera, I expect to use Linux controllers interfaced with Aptera’s native system. The idea would be to make this change while lowering power consumption and total weight, but failing that at least no sacrifices should be made.

I will almost certainly be doing a sound system delete.

[Scott]

Doors/windows that do not block outside view (see Peter J’s ideas elsewhere in forum)

Steering wheel (to replace yoke)

Paint (to replace wrap)

[rickomatic]

I always thought aftermarket meant other companies providing products. My request would be Weather Tech floor mats and rear storage mats.

[kerbe2705]

My aftermarket accessory wish list includes:

A soft curtain/net to hang from the overhead clips in order to separate the cabin from the cargo area.

A cargo cover for those whose rear hatch will be a window and NOT a solar panel.

A Qi-charging pad for the phone rest.

A clip that attaches under the armrest to hold sunglasses out-of-view.

[Mike-Mars]

> “A soft curtain/net to hang from the overhead clips in order to separate the cabin from the cargo area.”

Would be better if it was strong enough to stop luggage/debris/etc entering the cabin area in an accident.

[Greek]

A foldable solid cabin divider to help in heating and cooling the passenger area.

[UnidentifiedDrivingObject]

A long Sun Visor Extender, to shade the sun shining thru the fixed, non lowering curved top window door glass.

[evan-craig]

I once had a car with slide-out visor extenders, and it was nice. Neither my Leaf nor i3 have it. So I bought a legal size mailer envelope and slide it over the existing visor. That works great, but then the visor can’t be stowed in the up position, so I remove the envelope and stash it between the seat and the console. That’s a nuisance, and arguable a dangerous distraction while driving. I see there are pretty good aftermarket kits, so unless Aptera’s visors won’t accept them, I wouldn’t bug Aptera for this.

[ROMAD]

Tinting will help there, James.

[UnidentifiedDrivingObject]

Right Dennis. I’ve suggested the tinting route as well, in some old thread. I’m thinking in dark reflective mirror tint, to block the glare. But visibility thru the door glass windows is somewhat limited as it is, esp with that thick door window frame is right smack at your eye sight level (at all times; mildly annoying tbh), I tend to lean with no tints at all (easier to drive at night). A simple retractable sliding sun visor extender, would be perfect.

[george-hughes]

I am hoping, the rear hatch itself can be easily removed and replaced by pulling pins from the hinges on which it moves.

The reason is I want to replace it with a small windshield that would block the wind from the Homecoming Queen’s hair as she rides on a bench (rumble seat) that fits in the centered wheel well and clamps to the side of the now empty rear hatch surround.

Coupled with a way to remove power from the rear wheel and the suspension of that wheel on a special under wheel dolly, you’ve got a great parade vehicle for operation at speeds under 15mph.

You could display a banner from open door to open door and have a great parade experience for less than $500, jump-seat included.

[UnidentifiedDrivingObject]

Aftermarket adaptive/directional LED fog lamps. Located at the leading edge of the front wheel pants, where the old sensors used to be on the Gamma mules (between the front upper tip of foam assembly and lower front edge of amber strip lens.

[wingsounds13]

I’m surprised and disappointed that these are not already part of the design.

[UnidentifiedDrivingObject]

I remember seeing it, in an off road render. Surprised too that it wasn’t included in the basic design. Hopefully some enterprising aftermarket outfit would pick up the slack.

[Sam]

Steering wheel with a center horn switch. Three wheel mud flaps.

[jesthorbjorn]

A startup currently listed on Indiegogo is developing a Bluetooth set of physical buttons and knobs to mate with Teslas.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ctrl-bar–4#/

Perhaps this could evolve into broader application including satisfying those of us Aptera fans who would like some more of those same buttons and knobs?

[Sam]

Auto-dimming rear/side view camera screens if not already so.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Sam Adams.

[UnidentifiedDrivingObject]

Aftermarket Volume/Subwoofer Control Knob (esp for the standard EA subwoofer) akin to an Alpine RUX-H02.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-QNaIFOfrwho/p_500RUXH02/Alpine-RUX-H02.html?XVINQ=GZ0&XVVer=1E0S&awcr=628544252852&awdv=c&awnw=g&awug=9031247&awkw=pla-1640528862422&awmt=&awat=pla&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3IXmtLHv_AIVbRvUAR1g0Q0eEAQYASABEgKtz_D_BwE

[Pragmatic_to_a_Fault]

The trouble with custom aftermarket parts is fairly simple, they have to be able to “ cross platform” to other vehicles , with apteras unique form shape etc. the only vehicle any aftermarket parts are going to fit will be aptera , that means you need to design molds , tooling etc that may only produce parts for a handful of people who want them. It’s not going to be cost effective at all for any business to invest in

[harry-parker]

I disagree. This Aptera will be more popular than many special vehicles that have many aftermarket items. Think Corvette, Porsche, etc.

[Pragmatic_to_a_Fault]

@harry

Remember this ?

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/aptera/2008-aptera-typ-1/

Or this

It was going to be so popular

[craig-merrow]

If there’s a subwoofer delete option, an aftermarket lid could turn that spot into some nice storage space.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by  Craig Merrow. Reason: Forgot to check off the notification box

[Greek]

Subwoofer was thrown in…no charge. Just remove and fabricate a cover.

[matthew-crawford]

Hi all, just wanted to start a discussion about possible post launch upgrades that should be relatively simple (compared to everything else) to add.

The two I would like to see would be:

1. An adjustable arm on the driver side of the display with a Chi 2/MagSafe mount. Since Apple has given the Chi group the MagSafe spec and Chi 2 is basically MagSafe, this would provide a nearly universal phone mounting option for drivers. Those whose phones don’t have built in magnets, but support chi ‘wireless’ charging can easily add it via a case. (My mom has a MagSafe case on her iPhone 11 and uses it with a MagSafe car mount with no issues.)

2. An upgraded steering wheel with additional, programmable buttons/wheels. I would suggest a layout with a vertical scroll-wheel with a 2-button toggle on each side of the scroller with one set on both sides of the steering yolk, providing 8-buttons and 2 scroll-wheels. (This is obviously much more complicated that my first request.) Beyond the horn and volume buttons, I would like to have play/pause, previous and next track buttons, a call answer/end button, and a button to activate Siri on my iPhone (all of these can be done via Bluetooth). The voice assistant and call controls could all be one context based button (answer incoming call, end ongoing call, activate voice assistant otherwise). By making the buttons customizable, each driver can set them up as they see fit. Other possibilities would be cruise control, temp control and other such things.

Anyone else have any ideas for fairly simple upgrades that could be rolled out in a short time frame after the first production run is finished?

[curtis-cibinel]

I plan to raise the seats up with spacers to improve the driving posture and make it easier to get in/out. I am 5’7″ so I expect I can raise it several inches.

[ROMAD]

Curtis, have you been fortunate to sit in the Gamma? I’m the same height as you with relatively short legs so I usually have the seat more forward than most.

Maybe something like this: https://www.vtecauto.com.sg/products/comfort-access/mercedes-benz-manual-to-electric-seat-conversion-modification/

Too bad they’re in Singapore.

However, maybe RECARO Ergomed ES seat would be the way to go: https://www.recaro-automotive.com/us/comfort/recaro-ergomed

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by  Dennis Swaney. Reason: Added links
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[Kari]

Raising the seats is a fabulous idea! I’m 5′ 4+” and my husband is 5’7″, so we would benefit from the lift.

[Riley]

Simple additions:

Screen protector for main display

Seat covers

Floor/trunk mats

Dash camera

Moderate upgrades i can do myself:

Add foglights to wheel pants

Remove side mirrors

Add top of steering wheel

Add port for external solar panel

Difficult modifications I want but shouldn’t do myself:

bubble window

Third seat

Add charg port at front

Add trailer hitch

[Jeff]

“2. An upgraded steering wheel with additional […] buttons/wheels..”

Yes! This is an absolute must. And I’d also throw in adding a right stalk and adding more functionality to both stalks. (Speaking of, does anyone know how Aptera intends for cruise control to be controlled with the current design and its astonishing lack of physical controls/buttons/stalks?)

If I was a potential big money investor, I’d probably insist on these changes being made before committing a single cent. I hope some big investor with common sense pushes Aptera in this direction.

[joshua-caldwell]

Replacing the Yoke with a Wheel is definitely a consideration, though will try the Yoke for at least a month to try and get used to it.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ctrl-bar–4#/ is for the Tesla, but I definitely intend to either get this if it will fit and work properly or an Aptera version. I forget the details, but I think a developer of it mentioned considering an Aptera version.

The Bubble Door concept that I saw would be good, but only if it is safe in side accidents. I almost never go through drive throughs, and rarely roll down my window for anything, and I would rather remove that eye level blocking thingie that the Aptera is being designed with.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by  Joshua Caldwell.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.