The Aptera Width Issue (2)

[Pragmatic_to_a_Fault]

It’s not so much the width of the road. “ well it is “ but it’s more what’s on the road , in the road etc.

Where I live, a neighborhood built in the 50s when Americans didn’t have 2 cars for everyone in the household, they were lucky to have 2 cars and a 2 car driveway was fine, more narrow streets were perfectly fine.

Today we find ourselves in a world where a single family home can have 3 families living in it and everyone over 16 has their own car, so to my point. What’s in the road, street parking in neighborhoods that were never designed for it.

Emergency vehicles have trouble getting up and down streets, snow plows even more trouble. For me a car coming the other way is very hard to negotiate most of the neighborhoods where I travel… to and from work, to and from the store etc.

Aptera is too darn wide, yes I said it. It’s too darn wide to street park, so in the driveway it goes, not a problem. But to negotiate a trip out of my neighborhood or into the city is going to be a jousting match or game of chicken with on coming traffic.

The width issue has been brought up since day 1 and it has been poo pooed by the posters as a non issue, maybe for some who live in mini mansion neighborhoods with extra wide streets and 4 car garages, but for the bulk of Americans that live in the burbs where there are mixed blue color neighborhoods and tons of people parking on the street.

88” is not a “non issue” and for places like the UK and Italy where the roads were designed for even smaller cars? That California state of mind with open roads and copious sunshine will be rhe achilles’ heel of aptera.

Side note: My best friend was stationed at RAF Alconbury

He had his 1977 Ford Grenada shipped over and couldn’t find a single parking spot it would fit in, he and his airmen friends had to pick up and move mini coopers to another spot so had enough width in 2 spots to park his car. That Grenada was 77” wide.

Still think 88” is a non issue ?

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by  James Lee.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  Gabriel Kemeny.

[J.D.]

88″ is a non-issue for many across the US and there are a large number of sports cars have widths of 85″-88″ even with their mirrors folded. People still own and drive these cars in countries around the world even though they’re not practical everywhere. A Ford F-250 in the US is 106″ wide with mirrors and even standard full-sized trucks are usually 95-96″ with mirrors. There are millions upon millions of people who this car would work perfectly for with no issue.

[stewart-ruth]

My dad brought our ’68 plymouth station wagon to Geneva, Switz.. Parking was an adventure.

[tebling]

This is my #1 concern with the Aptera, and is what’s holding me back from a LE reservation. I have a Model 3 and am nervous enough as it is parking in narrow garage spaces (in the US).

I hear a lot of positives about Aptera’s transparency, but I have yet to see anything that tackles this issue head on, e.g. a video demonstrating parking in typical or challenging situations. This seems like a no-brainer and better to get this out of the way sooner rather than waiting until customers find out the hard way.

I’d love to be proven wrong on this, but all the concerns in this thread seem completely legitimate.

[Phil]

This video from Aptera covers 4 issues, 2 of which concern its width. Myth 1 about drive thru restaurants and myth 4, public parking spaces. (myth is their word, not mine). I think this will give you a better idea about how it fits in these situations. Your concern is at the end of the video.

https://youtu.be/YNvcr9jBcTo

[tebling]

Thanks, that video is helpful. I’m not worried about the drive through case, as it seems like those lanes are sized to accommodate pretty big vehicles (think big truck with trailer).

The parking demo was good, but not great. It was just one example and of course it happened to be large-ish outdoor space. I think there was a bit of an illusion there as well with the cars on either side parked off center, closer to the Aptera which gives the impression that they are just as wide (you can see the SUV has way more room on its left side than its right). I realize this was done to show how egress is still possible in tight quarters.

I’d like to see what happens when attempting to park in an indoor garage which has narrower spaces, as well as examples of parallel and back-in parking.

[Phil]

I agree tebling. There is an indoor garage in Chicago (where I live), that I thought was narrow for my Subaru Impreza, so I know Aptera would not get in it. I think the way to approach this type of indoor garage is, if it doesn’t fit or barely fits in the garage entrance, back up and go somewhere else, of course assuming that is an option.

[Pragmatic_to_a_Fault]

I posted about my old boss parked in an underground parking garage at his senior condo and how his 2nd spot was next to a cement support post, he hit it several times with his Cadillac ( no where near as wide an aptera ). They finally wrapped the post in carpet and bubble wrap to keep him from scratching his car. Oh it still dented it. But didn’t destroy the paint as badly.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  James Lee.

[ricky-hill]

Aptera biggest flaw. It’s to dam WIDE!!

[ROMAD]

I’ve driven wider vehicles when I was stationed in Germany.

[jim-t]

I had figured I’d drive mine home from Carlsbad to the East Coast. When they announced that the Launch Edition would not have DC fast charging, I thought that would take over a week and so looked into whether there are car transport trailers wide enough (regular transport trailers can’t accommodate a 3 wheeler regardless). I could not find either an enclosed or open trailer with solid floor wide enough for the Aptera – can anyone confirm that they exist?? Now with DC fast charging standard, I will plan to drive mine home, but it would be helpful to know that transporting is an option, and not ridiculously more expansive than usual rates.

[Greek]

Enclosed shipping trailers are 102″ wide.

[jim-t]

That should work if the door opens . . . otherwise the shipper might need to climb in/out through the back hatch.

[J.D.]

A 2022 Corvette including side mirrors is 87.5″-88″ wide. A Ram 1500 with mirrors is around 96″ wide.

[Pragmatic_to_a_Fault]

Mirrors fold in. Tires do not

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by  James Lee.

[J.D.]

Thanks for that information. There are millions of vehicles that drive around everyday on the road while being well over a foot wider than Aptera. If somebody has issues parking this or otherwise they won’t buy it.

[christopher-zito]

You say millions of vehicles are wider than the Aptera? With rare exception (oversized pickups with extra wheels added), they are NOT personal vehicles. All those vehicles wider than the Aptera are trucks. Truck drivers know how to drive them well. Other vehicles on the road can easily get a sense of the truck’s width because the easily-visible truck’s body generally extends straight up from the tires. So opposing drivers have a good sense of the total space occupied by the truck.

It won’t be that way for other drivers encountering an Aptera. They won’t be accustomed to the front wheels extending out (may not even see them).

The vehicle’s width is probably the biggest reason that I would not buy the 3-wheeler, but wait for a more “conventional” 4-wheel / 4-seat Aptera (hopefully it would have a more normal width).

[Greek]

Driven many vehicles including trucks and busses. It is harder to drive a rear wheeled dually than any other vehicle I have driven. Having the width in the front, it is easier to gauge your entry point than your exit. Also when you are approaching a vehicle that is wider in the rear, that may also not be as obvious to an oncoming vehicle. If I’m driving a wider vehicle I am always on the lookout for other drivers that don’t seem to have a proper line of approach and I make the adjustment.

I’m sure there will be a learning curve for a while until it all feels natural, but I am not overly concerned about the width.

[DesertSkies]

Ai am not really worried about the width, as such, since even residential streets and secondary roads in my area (Palm Springs, California) are shockingly wide. But I *am* worried … VERY worried … about the sticky-outy front wheel assemblies and the possibility of them being sheared off by drivers in SUVs who cannot see the sticky-outy bits. Ride a motorcycle on city streets for 10 years, as I did, and you get an entirely new perspective on the inability of other drivers to make spatial judgements! I think the insurance companies are going to be very nervous about those wheel assemblies posing a high risk of major financial loss.

[george-hughes]

I get you on drivers not paying attention but I think the whole package and stance of the Aptera somehow breaks through, you know, kind of like a supercar breaks through. You are just not likely to miss an Aptera coming at you, its lighted grin with the pants standing in for dimples. It is an attention-getter!

I agree that the pants are ‘out there’ but I wouldn’t be too quick to suggest this is bad from a safety standpoint.

First, the instant torque and wide track provide the upmost in accident avoidance capability.

The open wheel design in essence mimics the behavior of open-wheeled race cars. The positive aspect of these vehicles in crashes is they are very effective in protecting the drivers. And key to the safety package is the CF egg-shaped passenger compartment.

So, while the strategies and materials shared by Aptera and formula one cockpits are quite similar, only anecdotal expressions of the structural integrity in saving drivers lives (many) and dramatically reducing most injuries exist for formula one. I mean the Insurance institute doesn’t wreck race cars and there are production Aptera to test …. yet.

[Pragmatic_to_a_Fault]

The people who don’t worry about the width are the same people who live in nice wide neighborhoods.