Ground Clearance

[john-trotter]

In order, I worry about the back skeg, the belly, and the two front wheel pants. Does anyone here know what these three clearance distances will be for both standard and the off road option? (And, what is the wheel base?) Pot holes, speed humps, ramped driveways all present “hard” challenges and, of course, snow presents a somewhat softer one. Un-surfaced roads such as Forest Service roads, are their own thing. Two decisions depend on this: 1) opt for off-road package and take the efficiency hit and 2) buy the Aptera or not. Needs data, not interpretation of fuzzy video.

[Biker]

Until the final design Delta specs are released, everyone here would provide a guess as to those numbers.

[Biker]

In a reply to a question on the Republic investing site Chris Anthony says:

“Yes, we have at least 5″ of clearance on all the wheel covers now.”

[V-Pilot]

I’d like to know what the belly clearance is.

[ROMAD]

Well, the clearance for the wheel pants is 5.24″, so it will be at least that. I tried to do a ratio between a printout of the sideview with the total height measurement of 56″ which was 5.25″ on the printout. Measuring from the belly to the ground line on the printout was 1″ so the formula would be: 56/5.25 = x/1 or x = 56/5.25, Solving for x gives us 10.67″ which seems to me to be excessive. However, it will be at least the same as the pants but probably a couple of inches more.

Still the fact that they refused to release either the weight or the belly clearance shows they are still hiding information from the very people they are trying to sell the LE. They are still pushing a pig in a poke.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  Dennis Swaney. Reason: Fixed typo
• This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[john-malcom]

I find your criticisms humorous, especially with no foundation. If you feel so negatively about Aptera, please feel free to ask for a return of your reservation fee and leave the forum. If you continue on the forum, some may think you are actually an Aptera fan and plan to proceed with a purchase when it is your turn😁

[kerbe2705]

@Dennis Swaney “Hiding”? Dennis, they haven’t BUILT the d**ned thing yet so how can they weigh it? In all the built prototypes the belly clearance has been higher than the wheel pants clearance – but I’ve never once, having attended some dozen webinars, heard ANYONE ask about belly clearance: Maybe if you ask, they’ll tell you! info@aptera.us

[Greek]

I understood it as ground clearance at its lowest point is 5.24”. We know that’s what the wheel pants are, the belly is at least that far off the ground or more. More importantly is how the belly’s lowest point align with the center of the wheels.

Unless you are buying a truck, most people that buy cars don’t know the ground clearance of the car they are driving…so I’m not too surprised about that info being left off.

The weight on the other hand, people may or may not know the weight of their vehicle. We who are posting and following these posts have a greater expectation than the general public for information that we think we want or need.

[V-Pilot]

If you’re going over a speed bump or something with both front wheels at the same time then yes, where it is in relation to the center of the wheels is most important. But if you have to straddle something in the road(chunks of retread, tree branches, ice chunk off a mud flap)…just looking to save the belly pan if possible. When pants/skirt are easily replaceable of potentially modified to increase survivability. Weight was pure curiosity. I do know the weight of my vehicles.

[christopher-zito]

With such a low ground clearance and the state of technology these days, I wish Aptera would include a sensor/warning for potholes, speed bumps and abrupt road inclinations (like at driveway entrances). I think with a 5″ clearance, it’s going to be hitting stuff all the time and scraping up the underbelly and wheel skirts quite often. I sometimes scrape the bottom of my RAV4 (9″ clearance), usually at inclined driveway entrances. Aptera, being headquartered in San Diego, should know better, especially with the horrible state of our roads and all the potholes we now have. In a 3-wheel configuration, pothole avoidance will be far more difficult than with 4 wheels.

[ROMAD]

If the wheel pants scrape fairly frequently, I’ll first order the off-road pants to see if they solve the problem; if not, then I’ll shorten the pants.

[john-malcom]

A practical solution! All should take the initiative to find a solution to their perceived deficiencies istead of complaning and wanting someone else to solve the problem for them.