Leno & Chris take Sol for a drive

[kerbe2705]

[Peter Jorgensen]

This is good exposure! Happy to see it!

[Brad Nelson]

Looking good! Jay seemed to be having some trouble keeping it between the lines, and I hope the pants are made a little more solid in production. I’m sure they will…it’s just a bad optic to have them flopping around during the drive.

[Ray Holan]

Yes, Brad. I noticed the “dancing pants” a la M.C. Hammer in the video too. Of course, this is an Alpha vehicle and there’s a whole lot more development to be done so it didn’t trouble me at all. However, a prospective buyer comparing it to a Prius or Model 3 or a Chevy Bolt might get the hee-bee-geebies.

I got a big chuckle out of Chris Anthony’s off-hand remark during the drive “You can’t pick your nose in an Aptera because everyone’s always going to be looking at you.” How’s that for a marketing slogan? LOL

[Rob Spruijt]

I think Chris said that the steering will be electrical in the production vehicles. The lane issues we saw are probably caused by the manual steering, which we will never experience.

[Peter Jorgensen]

Does anyone know if they plan to bring a Gamma vehicle to Jay to look at? Or just an early production car?

[Len Nowak]

Nice !

Towards the end of the video Jay asked to return with a production intend vehicle and Chris said Yes

And yes something “kicked up off the road by the rear wheel. That could have been anything!

[Curtis Cibinel]

This is the first I’ve seen about a frunk. Nice bonus storage. Good place for firstaid and emergency gear.

Now I know it isn’t the production version but those wheel covers sure shake up a storm. Clearly not the final aerodynamics.

PS: Did something fall off at 23:40? Looked like it came off the rear suspension but maybe they just lost a gopro

[Joshua Melton]

I saw that too. Rewatched just to check and definitely was just some trash on the road.

Still cant convince my wife the car isnt ungly though…

[Bryan Bowes]

I didn’t notice that piece fall off, yeah that’s not good, lol. I don’t see what it could possibly be if it was an Aptera part but it didn’t come from the road.

[Michael Rennick]

It was great to see the forward storage area. There is a good bit of space up there. I’m also interested to see what kind of storage ends up under the flat panel of the rear storage area. I’m sure it will all change a bit as we get closer to production.

The car seemed to do fairly well out in the wild, even if it is an Alpha. Kept up with traffic and did all the car things.

[Ray Holan]

I’m a jaded Aptera reservation holder of course, but I agree Michael. It runs, stops, and drives even in its Alpha development state. Major accomplishment in my book.

[Davis Edwards]

The one we’ve all been waiting for! It’s a big step for us to see it out in the wild, and it performed well. Excited to hear about the many improvements coming in Beta

[GLENN ZAJIC]

I was a little disappointed. I don’t know why they did not wait until at the least the Beta stage to have this public of a review. The wheel pants vibration was terrible. I believe the Beta will be more enclosed and hopefully way less prone to road vibes. They need exposure, but not so bad that they couldn’t wait for something a little more solid. With better containment of the front wheels, the noise will also be reduced.

[Bryan Bowes]

I think we all feel the same way you do. I wonder if Jay had such a full schedule and this was the only slot he had open for quite a while. Either way, waiting for gamma would have been better but it’s good to see it out in the real world at least.