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How do you start an Aptera?
updated 2 months, 1 week ago
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How do you start the car?
To get in the doors we need an RFID tag on the B-pillar or a mobile phone and knock twice.
Is it ready to start all the time or do we need to authenticate again to make it go?
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We don’t know yet but having that card could be one. Their is a phone App being designed,
A looooong time ago their was talk of face recognition with maybe part of the safety pilot
I trust these details will be discussed post Gamma
¯\_(ツ)_/¯¯
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If it is NFC then you would have to swipe again to start the car.
Facial recognition seems tricky to make reliable.
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My Hyundai Elantra Hybrid has a NFC key option. Put my phone in the wireless charging bay and poof I can start my car. Can do the same thing with the Hyundai NFC Keycard.
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Len, I think that might have been “Facial Tracking” which is a part of safety pilot, don’t recall anything on facial recognition.
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Face recognition is hard. Google had it in the Pixel 4s when they had a radar chip but they dropped it after that. Supposedly they’ve been working on bringing back the feature but apparently getting it to work with just cameras is a difficult problem.
I would hope that they copy Tesla’s approach. Tesla pairs your phone with the car and it will automatically unlock when you approach and get within Bluetooth range and automatically lock when you walk away. The backups are the phone app and an RFID key card. RFID cards don’t have batteries so they can’t die the way key fobs do.
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I think the thread here was on starting the car not unlocking it. Aptera has not announced anything about starting the vehicle once unlocked and the driver is seated. I would vote for a common start button. However, in the plethora of gamma media I don’t see anything that looks like a start button or anything else that might indicate how to start an Aptera.
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I don’t miss having a start button in my Tesla, do you? A Tesla starts when you put it in gear, as long as you have an unlock feature a start button is redundant. As I said I hope they copy Tesla.
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@John Malcom From what I gather – across the EV world – is that the biggest problem with power buttons is that people forget to turn their vehicles off.
Tesla vehicles don’t have power buttons: Touch the brake pedal and they turn themselves on and are ready to go. When you exit a Tesla and close the door it assumes you want it to power-down, so it does just that.
Power buttons aren’t really necessary in EVs.
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My phone often doesn’t recognize my thumb print. Biometrics such as that & facial recognition have a long way to go. Maybe push button start with key fob or card detection as back up.
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No no no, see those three dots, you wave your hand upward to unlock and downward to lock or simply just walk away and it will sense you’re not there and lock it automatic
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More important than how to start Aptera (put the shifting prindle into drive) is how to park Aptera (put the prindle into park). You can’t just depend on walking away to put the car in park. It has to be in park to safely get out without the car rolling away. Walking away might be okay for locking the vehicle and shutting off any energy drain like entertainment system, and any lights or fans (AC).
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@Sam Adams The three dots were just an idea of the designer’s – they’re no longer part of the vehicle.
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I want to get the RFID implanted in my hand.
That way when I go to the beach I don’t need my keys.
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It would be nice if they offered an NFC (Near Field Communication), Key Card, like my Genisis. I place this plastic card in my swimsuit. It needs an approved Android phone to set up the initial key code. When the card is within 20cm of my door handle sensor it opens the door lock. When I place the plastic key on my GV80 wireless phone charger pad I can start the card without my phone. The card can get wet. Apple phones have NFC but for some strange reason, it can not program a Genisis plastic key card. So either you initialize it on someone’s Andorid-supported device then remove the Genisis app on their phone or take it to a dealership.
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@Llewellyn Evans Rivian provides a silicone RFID “sports bracelet” with their vehicles…
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My Taycan starts as soon as I’m in and close the drivers door. This only happens with the key fob in my possession. I need to press and hold the stop button for a couple of seconds to turn off the car.
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That is a complex 2 way communication between the fob and the car. Different with RFID which is much simpler.
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Would love Apple Watch integration. At the moment my Tesla needs my phone to be present (detects BT LE transponders) and I’d really prefer to leave it at home thanks, especially as they’re the size of a house brick now.
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I’m very excited and hopeful that the aptera will be able to be unlocked and driven without a key and just with a phone. Is there any proof that this is the direction it will go. I have friends use my tesla and I love that I can share the key, remotely unlock it, and let them drive without a key.
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The Aptera is not a Tesla. At this point, nothing official has been announced. Rampant speculation though😉 with everybody’s favorite suggested. Not all people/potential customers will have phones so their may be a phone component, but some other method as well. Just have to wait for the official word.
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@Jonah Jorgenson Keep in mind, though, how highly Aptera’s founders regard Tesla vehicles: They plan to use Tesla’s charging port, the single control screen emulates Tesla’s design and the stalks on the steering column and trackballs on the steering yoke (and the yoke, itself) also reflect Tesla designs. It’s very likely that Aptera won’t have an on/off button.
Anyone who wants to own/drive an EV should consider having a smart phone as the two are highly integrated: There are any number of functions that most EVs assign to their phone apps that are not available through other means. IMHO the majority of people who will be interested in driving a high-tech, two-seat, looks-like-a-dolphin composite-bodied electric sports car are HIGHLY unlikely to be “techno-luddites” who refuse to own/use a smart phone.
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I think valid points. certainly the Aptera market to people without phones is very small. I did not think broadly enough when making the post.
I withdraw the post with this caveat. When away from the vehicle phones can be lost, misplaced, stolen, broken, run out of charge. If Aptera decides to use a phone app for access and starting an Aptera, there needs to be a foolproof backup should a circumstance occur that would make using the phone impossible. I would leave it to the engineers to determine what that would be.
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Tesla’s backup is an RFID card. It’s always in your wallet so you can’t misplace it and it doesn’t have a battery so it can’t run out of power. An RFID card is just as reliable as having an old fashion key. Tesla also offers an optional key fob for people who don’t own phones but still want to open the car remotely.
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From the FAQs:
How do I unlock and lock the Aptera vehicle? With a key fob?
The vehicle will unlock by detecting you via your phone’s Bluetooth connection, our app, or with a physical RFID card. Once inside the vehicle, you can open the door through the center screen controls. Aptera will automatically lock when you exit by detecting that you are not inside. The interior cabin will include a mechanical release to open the door in case of any electrical malfunction. More information to come as we push the efficiency envelope on mobility.
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Thanks for the information! All will benefit from hearing this.
Where does the “Knock” come in?
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So do you have to have your phone awake and out or can it stay in its holster? Will the app be on iPhones and Watches?
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Since it says Bluetooth connection, that should be fairly automatic when it comes into range. Just as long as you haven’t powered down your phone, or turned off the Bluetooth.
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Was the question how do you start an Aptera?
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I know that in 99.9 percent of the cases, a start button is redundant.
The .1 percent of the time, though, it saves lives 🙂
Imagine sitting in your new Aptera with your seven year old granddaughter kind of crazily climbing all around.
The little tyke takes a dive, hits the big + and the Aptera, you with your key-card and phone giving the go-signal and the Aptera wipes out the picnic, running over your wife’s foot leaving you thankful it weighs less than a ton.
Maybe there is a better idea … an “Off” button that turns the vehicle OFF if you select it (for safety/security) but is default configured to turn the car on and ready to roll with the presence of the FOB/RFID card/phoneapp.
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You have to select drive or reverse for an Aptera to go anywhere, so that shouldn’t be a problem, unless your seven year old granddaughter, is very, very, accurate with her dive.
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I want a crank handle sticking out of the front.
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Put a kill switch in the peg hole and just keep the crank handle one you like a huge key.
With how easy it is to steal a car by copying the frequency of your key i think a kill switch is a good idea.
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How many cars do you know of that are easily stolen copying the frequency of the key? There’s over a million Teslas and none stolen with frequency copying so that seems like a good technology to emulate
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Hello folks. I still like physical steering locks . I not only like the sensation of putting the key in and turning it, it is far more secure and reliable than a servo motor operating your steering lock, and relying on RF fob. I don’t like the idea of having your phone operate the car, how is that going to work if you don’t have your phone on you, broke your phone, lost your phone, flattened your phone, want to let someone else use the car, leaving the car at a repair shop or valet parking etc. Simple key please like we have had for the last 80 years, with an RFID chip for security, like we have had since the mid 1990s. PS I would also like as many physical controls as possible. One thing I really like about my Nissan E-NV200 is the big chunky PRND lever (with B for more regen) . Even the Park control is a proper mechanical cable, not a servo motor. It does exactly what you want and no ‘I’m sorry Dave, I can’t do that’ It also has a proper parking brake. Electric parking brakes are unpredictable and unreliable, and I don’t think you can use them in an emergency situation, they are for holding the car while parked.
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Aptera will have a minimal amount of physical controls (Likely only turn signals/lights/wipers.) Your phone works as the key, as well an RFID card or the equivalent will be included that will work as well.
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I can’t tell if you’re trolling the forum or not. If not, try a tesla. I can be in London and send a key digitally to my friend in Miami. No worry for lost or copied keys. I can delete them and add whoever. Phone lost or stolen, then there is the key card, or open it with Apple Watch or iPad. Many solutions and never worry about a lost key.
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Indeed, it’s a new mindset that people often have a hard time wrapping their heads around. For most it starts to make sense fairly quickly, not so for some. It is usually a matter of using the new system for a while until it becomes habit.
People also have a hard time trusting electronic and automated systems. This one I do understand even though I am an electronics geek. Again, it’s generally a matter of using the system for a while to build belief and trust in the system. Electronic and electromechanical systems are becoming more reliable every day. Oh, yes… nothing is perfect, even the good old familiar mechanical systems. While it may be nice for familiarity and comfort, mechanical systems are becoming more expensive than electronic systems that do the same thing. How much do you want to pay for old-fashioned familiarity?
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If either the battery drains, or there is some sort of electrical fault, how would we recover the situation?
Perhaps they could use a physical key as an emergency unlock? The most logical place for that would be near the charge port, hidden behind the license plate.
Any thoughts about protection against RFID relay attacks? That’s now a common way to steal a car here.
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Emulate tesla technology since it’s open source. How many teslas are stolen per capita as opposed to hot wiring? If there’s a drained battery getting in the car won’t get you very far. Either way it needs to be towed. Similar to a car with a dead battery. Jump it enough to move it out of the way, tow it, and charge it. Many Electric cars auto send the driver to the nearest charging station with automatic rerout. The driver can override the reroute and suffer the consequences of having it towed. I wish my gas car rerouted me to a gas station. This drops dead battery situations by a huge factor
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> How many teslas are stolen per capita as opposed to hot wiring?
The two main entry methods for stolen cars here are fobs stolen from homes, and RFID relay attacks. Hot wiring used to be common 30 years ago. Take a look at this tesla owner’s club article.
https://teslaowners.org.uk/guides/how-to-defeat-tesla-thieves
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I just witnessed a 1.5 hr car chase on live tv in L.A. where the thief broke into and hot wired 2 cars within 60 seconds. It’s still happening today. Can’t pop a Tesla door open and Hotwire it. Probably why the guy ran past a few teslas in the car chase. That forum on tesla is how to prevent thieves but that doesn’t mean it happens more per capita. It’s like “how to not get hit by lightning”
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I would love a “Lambo Style” switch……..😆
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